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Entry tags:
.:First Party Run, Recreational Runs & More:. [closed]
Who ⬤ Ganymede and Co.
What ⬤ Dungeon-crawlin', exploring, talking with people. What can go wrong?
Now featuring some potentially cw-worthy memshares, or content involving that.
When ⬤ Following first meetings, and anything related to the below subjects.
Where ⬤ Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast, ΔHidden Forbidden Holy Ground, Root Towns
Content Warnings ⬤ Mentions of drunken behavior.
Further mentions and displays of captivity, kidnapping, stalking, and subjects relating to suicide.
[ Following some enlightening discussions that have more or less blossomed into actual plans, an unlikely band of four adventurers assemble!
Names added to friends' lists, details hashed out, which means one thing and one thing only, that the next point some adventuring is happening. Though, given that it is everyone's (probable?) first time, it seems that there is no way for anybody to choose specific places or areas they might like!
Thankfully, that's what the random Area Exploration mechanic is for.
Ganymede steps forward, and just decides to select a perfect set of coordinates for everyone...
...Not! As if even he can be decisive at this point. He lets everyone know that these are the keywords they'll be working with. "Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast", that is.
So once the Chaos Gate is utilized for them to all cross over...
Welcome to the wonderful location of Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast! Apparently it's an area that has a rocky desert-like appearance that stretches out for miles on end. Not to mention, there is a wonderful-looking flesh wall that is the proper beginning of the dungeon crawling, and entry point into the actual dungeon that is bound to be teeming with treasure and creatures.
But, they're not inside that wall as of yet. ]
RESULTS: Can be viewed here, for our reference!
What ⬤ Dungeon-crawlin', exploring, talking with people. What can go wrong?
Now featuring some potentially cw-worthy memshares, or content involving that.
When ⬤ Following first meetings, and anything related to the below subjects.
Where ⬤ Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast, ΔHidden Forbidden Holy Ground, Root Towns
Content Warnings ⬤ Mentions of drunken behavior.
Further mentions and displays of captivity, kidnapping, stalking, and subjects relating to suicide.
[ Following some enlightening discussions that have more or less blossomed into actual plans, an unlikely band of four adventurers assemble!
Names added to friends' lists, details hashed out, which means one thing and one thing only, that the next point some adventuring is happening. Though, given that it is everyone's (probable?) first time, it seems that there is no way for anybody to choose specific places or areas they might like!
Thankfully, that's what the random Area Exploration mechanic is for.
Ganymede steps forward, and just decides to select a perfect set of coordinates for everyone...
...Not! As if even he can be decisive at this point. He lets everyone know that these are the keywords they'll be working with. "Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast", that is.
So once the Chaos Gate is utilized for them to all cross over...
Welcome to the wonderful location of Coiling Friend's Tiny Beast! Apparently it's an area that has a rocky desert-like appearance that stretches out for miles on end. Not to mention, there is a wonderful-looking flesh wall that is the proper beginning of the dungeon crawling, and entry point into the actual dungeon that is bound to be teeming with treasure and creatures.
But, they're not inside that wall as of yet. ]
RESULTS: Can be viewed here, for our reference!
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Being one of the few people who have dared to j'accuse Michel occasionally of laughing at him. But, he's more entertained at the reaction of the other
futilelyraising an arm to defend himself against the army of water droplets.The somewhat failed attempt in replication of the maneuver makes him give the other man an amused look. He squirts some more water at Michel just for the hell of it. ]
Maybe that's simple to me. Then, I could aim for the world next...take it by surprise.
That sounds reasonably more-than-simple enough.
[ The way he phrases it indicates he is a little more than self-aware of how ridiculous that sounds when he makes such a comment, though. Ganymede isn't so ambitious to go for world titles or something like that. ]
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is that a French joke I'll fight youOh, to have grown up with his brothers teaching him useful forms of combat, like how to successfully perform this water attack... Keep it up, Ganymede. He's a fast learner, a few more demonstrations and he'll get it. Or else just swat the water back at Ganymede outright. ]
Maybe you will.
[ Just this time, there's no teasing. He could believe it; he wonders if he'd manage to hear of it if Ganymede did. What must it feel like, to have that kind of drive, the ability to line up one goal after another to create a path forward?
He tries the water squirting technique one more time before he just splashes a little back at Ganymede with his palm. ]
...Did you call me all the way out here just to throw water at me?
[ Someone better at this would know what other things to ask. He wants to know about Ganymede's dancing, about his brother. If his cousin isn't fussing at him for running back to the game. A dozen other things. ]
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I have no idea what you're talking about :3cIronically, his own brothers were the fighty ones as well. Not Ganymede, even if he has some self-defense skills under his belt! Also, he does know some moves...like how to mercilessly send water at someone by squirting water towards them so skillfully it might be an art.
There's a moment of surprise flickering across Ganymede's face when Michel says that. 'Maybe you will,' are words spoken with no trace of doubt that makes him feel actually...a little embarrassed. But, not in a bad way.
He lets out a surprised yelp with the water being splashed right back at him, though. Defenseless in his minute moment of surprise. ]
You know what? I think it's funny you're asking me that when you're splashing water right back at me?
[ What is asking the right questions? One can never truly know. ]
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Impulsiveness... isn't like him anymore either. It's a strange in-between. He'd joined the beta for a new start and had found quickly that he was still so suffocatingly himself. Now, with these flickers of someone he doesn't recognize, he's all the more uncomfortable. ]
You thought you could avoid retaliation?
[ He almost smiles, and the expression must look ghastly with uncertainty and disuse. Just as well he hasn't looked up again. He watches the water swirling around his fingertips and gives it a little flick. ]
"Everything flows"...
[ He uses the French translation this time, although the game's autotranslate would have obfuscated his lilting and awkward Greek. ]
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Even as he answers the question with one of his own. ]
Yes?
[ Look, he can absolutely be as ridiculous as he wants, okay? But at the sudden quote, that gets him to blink twice, and then there's an expression of consideration settling onto his face. An indescribable emotion flickering over the blond's face as Ganymede's expression then shifts towards a curious look as he finishes the second part of the quote, and more. ]
Everything flows...and nothing stays.
No one steps into the same river twice. For, it's never the same river, nor is one the same person by the next time. When one moves forward, the past changes, and their future with them. Whatever was before, is left behind.
In the end, even the world has changed, through the eyes of a person who has become so different, that their view of reality has transformed.
...What do you think of that, Winter?
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It's a painful question. Are the words comforting to Ganymede? They had enough meaning to him to put them in his profile, and Michel had studied them in curiosity, like a piece of a riddle. A habit remaining from other forums, perhaps; a tendency to look at traces left behind, like finding the beauty in the spectrum of light scattered through broken glass. ]
There's a similar quote from an American writer. "You can never go home again."
[ Less elegant, but perhaps closer to the heart of the matter. Michel leans back a little in the boat, his expression statue-still again. ]
I believe... it's true. Time does not stand still. No person remains unchanged, even though they might try. The place you imagine returning to ceases to exist the moment you take your eyes from it.
[ Whether it's a hopeful thought or a nihilistic one, he supposes, depends on whether the listener envisions anything before them. Otherwise, the future is empty, and the past, an illusion shaped like memory. ]
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I believe that quote does work just as well.
[ A smile blooms softly across his face, ephemeral, not unlike phantasm of dreams borne from pleasant sleep—comforting to have, yet also painful to awake from into the cold reality that grounds oneself.
But his heart is not so full of joy to embrace the concept with happiness as he presumes it has. Even if he likes the answer. So, he hides his smile by shifting his knees to pull them closer, face half-hidden in them. ]
There is no way to return to the past. It has already come and gone.
...You're always thinking a lot, you know. But, I never considered that to be a bad thing.
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A terrifying thought. He doesn't even know if he's said the right thing this time. Aren't his halting words as gloomy as usual? He watches Ganymede curl himself a little smaller with an unpleasant nervousness tightening his chest. ]
I have little else to spend my time on, that's all.
[ Does that sound as pitiful as he's afraid it does? He tries to feign indifference, glancing out across the water again as nonchalantly as he can, his thoughts racing. ]
And you're, um... [ He feels turned around in his thoughts already, unsure how to put the impression into words. This is why he doesn't deal in feelings. ] ...never... quite what I expect.
[ That isn't quite it. He's not someone who enjoys uncertainty. But it's more — an impression of resilience, defiance. Startling in the way the sight of new leaves forcing their way up through the snow is startling. ]
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As long as he thinks the earnest expression to support him is there, even Ganymede might find himself reacting well to that. Even if...it's something he certainly can't acknowledge with a string of elegance—unlike his dancing and more refined movements.
The initial reasoning Michel gives falls extremely flat, though. A considering 'mhm' leaves him, because it sounds like something he might say in order to avoid embarrassment. ]
What exactly do you expect, generally, from other people? And also, from me?
[ Ganymede prods, earnestly curious. There are always a litany of expectations, but he feels proud he can be something unique. That he can defy them at all. ]
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...I've long since stopped expecting anything from other people.
[ It's true. It should be true. He made himself empty, and that was safe. He can continue to pretend not to understand why his armor began to turn red yesterday. But he's trapped himself enough with his own words that he needs to say something, before Ganymede pries entirely too much from him. ]
I thought you seemed headstrong, stubborn, and proud. ...I don't think that much was wrong, actually.
[ Maybe Ganymede will rethink wanting his thoughts if he starts there? He does have a temper, after all. Just... not the kind Michel had anticipated. ]
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The answer has him shift in his position, more into a proper sitting one. ]
Does it help? Not having expectations on other people.
[ A
nouveaunovel way to look at things, if one might put it. Many hold expectations in others, though. Whether conscious of them or not. Though, Ganymede might actually wager that Michel is the exact type to potentially strive to make those words a true reality. It is the cadence he speaks with.Someone like him would not make statements about himself that aren't worth their weight. And speaking of opinions about others...he knows that one is derived from their interactions rather than simple presumptions.
Still, he prods out of that everpresent curiosity. ]
But, there's something also about me you found surprising. What was it?
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It does. It did. [ Although if it had helped perfectly: he wouldn't be here. ] It eases... a great deal of pressure. Hopes can be suffocating.
[ Without them, there's no need to run. No need for disappointment, or despair. Only the steady march of one meaningless day to the next.
His brow furrows, in either dismay or surprise, when Ganymede pursues. Stubborn, again. Michel opens his mouth, his fingers tracing restlessly over the edge of the boat as he gropes for words. What was surprising? There were no shortage of things. That his initial impression of shyness had been so misplaced? Ganymede is confident and decisive. Pushy, and prying, and incapable of not overstepping boundaries. But open. He listens with an intentness even now that unsettles Michel. Has he actually let his guard down enough to say too much? ]
...How can you still be so curious? Why do you care what I think?
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Though, how long will it 'work' for Michel? ]
...Hope in people, you mean? Or also, in general?
[ On the other matter, he only thinks it is natural to pursue the line of questioning. Yet, when Michel questions him, there is no immediate answer on the blond's end, blinking quiet as it feels like he falls still like the waters untouched by the boats drifting along. No forthcoming answer presents itself, so his initial response feels empty. ]
I...I don't know. [ ... ] I'm not sure if that even changed. But, what I'm certain of is that I just want to know. I think knowing might be better than living in ignorance, or maybe that is how I have always been. Not hiding whenever I had questions.
Even so, would you answer?
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What hope is there, if not hope in people? "Fate" is too abstract for faith, and not worth either trust or disappointment. You can only have hope in people. ]
...Mm.
[ The ambiguous noise is the best compromise Michel can make with the guilt already creeping up in his chest. He can't tell Ganymede not to have hope. He doesn't want to do that. And he should know better than anyone how seductive those words can sound from someone with even a sliver of commonality in their circumstances.
For that, alone, he owes him a proper answer. ]
I doubt it's an answer that will satisfy you. But I'll attempt to.
[ Although he says that, the ensuing pause is long. Maybe... it's fine, if it's just curiosity. If Ganymede isn't putting any particular weight on his answer. ]
When I saw you standing at the fringes of the party, I thought perhaps we had a little in common. The more we talk, the more obvious it becomes that that isn't the case. We're opposites.
[ But Michel's stoic tone has a soft rising lift to it, a note of positivity despite the words. He doesn't dislike that about Ganymede at all. ]
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But it's fine, just think of a momentary angry look a hamster might make when throwing a small tantrum. ]
Mm??
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We have long hair and are the youngest siblings! [ He can't resist pointing out. Yet, with Michel's tone, and his heart a bit warmed by it, he sounds like he might be trying to hold back laughter instead. RIP. ] Anyway, it appears to me that you don't mind. That we do have our differences—moreso than you originally thought was the case.
So, it seems we have the same opinion on the matter?
[ Ganymede asks with a pleased tone of his own...as he really meant the comment about it being good that they are their own separate people—made in mind considering their differences, despite apparent similarities. ]
no subject
[ Michel can't keep himself from nitpicking that supposed similarity, possibly because he can all but hear that suppressed laughter. But if Ganymede suspects that he doesn't look quite as grumpy as usual... he's not wrong either.
Still. He rolls his eyes just for the form of it, not caring how immature that makes him look for a moment. ]
Unfortunately, yes. You have a genius for talking someone in circles until you get your way.
[ Hopefully Ganymede is polite enough to ignore the momentary flicker of an almost-smile. ]
no subject
[ Meanwhile, Ganymede thinks he's super clever by making a statement and then slipping in a question like this (it probably really isn't all that smooth, though. He's not a mastermind type.)
When he sees the eye-rolling he counts that as a victory in this prolonged war (war of...what, exactly?) ]
So, what you're saying is that I'm actually clever as well?
[ Ganymede asks, thinking he's certainly going to get away with that maybe because he notices the possible-smile-that-does-not-quite-happen. ]
no subject
Long. Not as long as this.
[ If Ganymede wants to make a guessing game of it, perhaps he won't stop him. That curiosity could easily leave him feeling uneasy and suspicious. But right now, on a subject like this? It's a little charming. ]
Is that what it sounded like I said?
[ Maybe. Maybe he won't actually tell him no. ]
no subject
Is it as long as mine? Or still shorter?
[ Maybe this little bit of carefree messing around is good for the soul. Getting his mind off of more, well, difficult matters, let us say.
Anyway, he gets up suddenly, maybe uh. Rocking the boat a little as he turns to show the other with hair going down to his waist. ]
And yes, it did!
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It's an easy question. He could answer. But in a moment of impulsiveness: ]
Guess.
[ They're being silly, aren't they? Lighthearted. This is how people do that... probably. Was he always such a serious child, that he can't even remember that? ]
no subject
It's a little shorter than mine.
Well? Do I have it right?
[ Turning around with a flourish that lifts his hair a bit, light clothes practically dancing in the wind with the elegant movement. ]
no subject
Wrong.
[ A pause, just to let himself enjoy that. Or because he's watching Ganymede all but dance on a boat. ]
It's about the same. But I'm taller.
[ And therefore, on a technicality, his must be longer. ]
no subject
He puts his hands on his hips when he says 'wrong', waiting for the right answer. ]
...I should've gone with my first thought.
[ He almost mutters, but not quite. ]
So, you're as tall as you look, long hair...and same color eyes?
no subject
...Yes. [
technically "red" eyes are the light shining through very pale blue, but Fatamoru doesn't acknowledge that so neither will I] Not what you were expecting?[ He should reciprocate the question, but he's thinking of that selfie. He remembers the color of Ganymede's eyes. ]
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