ricksybusiness: (does this count as a back of head icon)
Rick "СОЛЕНЬЯ" Sanchez ([personal profile] ricksybusiness) wrote in [community profile] futurology2016-01-24 07:20 pm

!IMPORTANT! video; username: 82736775

[The video is from everyone's favorite camera-shy mad scientist, 82736775. This time, he's not even present in a carefully-framed way; he appears to just be using his jewellery as a Go-Pro.

The view is a large machine in the middle of the woods. It's crudely constructed, with loud, grinding gears and exhaust tubes belching smoke. There are three figures scurrying about -- Dipper, Shiki, and Hide, for those of you who would recognize them -- pulling levers and turning cranks and struggling to hear each other over the machine's groaning. Jars of fairy goop hang off the thing like lanterns in a coal mine.]


Listen uuuup, bitcheesss!

[The view jerks, then readjusts as the sky comes into focus.]

Thanks to my genius and everybody else's scrappy, can-do attitude, we're about to make scientific history. By which I mean w-we're about to blow this bullshit away.

[His hand enters the frame. He is flipping off the sky.]

Engage Operation: Fuck You, Magic!

[The frame stays centered on the sky, though the machine's groaning reaches almost deafening levels. Above the cacophony, there's a high-pitched whining: something is warming up. All over Chantes, the ground shakes.

Then bright green fills the screen and everything is so loud that it's almost silent. Those of you who are at a distance may see a gigantic green beam shooting into the sky just before everything turns bright white for a few long seconds.

And suddenly, there is light. Stars. Two moons. The sky is back.

82736775 is laughing maniacally. He swings the frame around to the giant machine, which has blasted wide open: smoking panels have fallen to the ground, exposing frayed wires. His assistants are also on the ground, looking dazed.]


Suck my dick, Narnia! Haha, yeah!

Now let's figure out what to do and get the hell off this rock! Team science, ouuuut!

[ ooc. IMPORTANT! the sun is now returned. from this point on, there are normal day-night cycles in chantes! be aware there are two moons, and the sun rises in the west. use this post to discuss what to do now! threadjacking encouraged. thank you to my fellow players and our modteam for making this plot so successful! i love you all.

UPDATE! check this thread for conversation on a peaceful option. ]
perma_banned: (flowers)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-01-25 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Ban, looking over the moons, shrugged.]

Far as I know, they look a whooole lot like the usual stuff. Course, I haven't ever seen two moons at once, though. [A cheeky play on words, at best--]

See the stardust, though~? That's the real pretty stuff.
Edited 2016-01-25 01:58 (UTC)
boneafide: (Default)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-01-25 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing this!! It's so... wow...
perma_banned: (that's my fetish)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-01-25 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
Yuuup~. It's like this every niiiight.

[Bottle to his lips--Ban looked up a bit more than before.]

I never usually looked up at it that much. Guess it's nice.
boneafide: (pic#9815508)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-01-25 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
I haven't seen it before now! This is my first time!

[And, as such, he really hasn't stopped looking at it. Even while talking to Ban, he's pretty consistently been looking up.]
perma_banned: (wait no maybe it is my fetish)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-01-25 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Ah.

[Ban understood the wonder. It seemed to finally sink in.]

You really haven't ever seen the moon and stars? Why not?
boneafide: (pic#9770156)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-01-25 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
I was underground! The only stars we had were sparkling stones on the ceilings of the caves. They were pretty okay for wishing on, but I think wishing on real stars will work a lot better!
perma_banned: (ugh the worst)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-01-28 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
That isn't enough.

[Ban, very rarely, responded with hostility. Simply because it was Papyrus, he buried a great deal of it, leaving himself with a simple enough frown and crease of his brows.]

If you really wanted to see it, you should have just gone out and gotten a chance to see the sky.

[He didn't need to be told that it was impossible for Papyrus to accomplish that. Papyrus was a talking, magic skeleton. Human beings responded violently to oddities like that. They brought pitchforks and fire to one another when they suspected someone was using magic to grow crops too quickly. Human beings tortured one another often and the other races were viewed with hostility that carried a constant, war-like attitude.

He knew, one way or another, that Papyrus wasn't allowed that sort of luxury for a reason that he wouldn't tolerate.]
boneafide: (pic#9728044)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-01-28 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's when Papyrus hears that bit of hostility, no matter how unintentional it may be, that he finally drops his eyes down from the stars in the sky to look at the video feed that Ban is on the other side of.

He's messed up again, hasn't he?

People didn't like hearing about monsters being stuck underground. Everyone he's told this to has definitely had a bad reaction- bitterness, loathing, anger. It's those kind of feelings that led to ... worse things.
]

Nyeh heh... You're right! I should have just gone outside! I just... ah... never did. I'm very silly for not doing that.

[Papyrus isn't good at lying.]
perma_banned: (sad that im dumb)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-01-31 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Displeasure said the least of what Ban felt. Papyrus couldn't have said a thing to improve Ban's opinion of things, but it was clear from his tone that he didn't look as if he was going to avoid trying to make excuses for them. Someone like Papyrus forgave easily. Even if someone were to put him through hell--]

Don't try to cover it up... not with me. I'm the bad one--not you.

[He felt like having a drink, after reaching that realization. Papyrus didn't have any expressions Ban could read, but he knew tone and body-language as well. The fact was that Papyrus was one of the best people Ban had ever met. The pause he allowed was brief. It was thoughtful, if only to say that he decided to give humanity one little benefit of the doubt before the iron-clad hatred he felt became strong once again.]

It's humans, isn't it?
boneafide: (pic#9870716)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-01-31 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[He didn't like lying. He wasn't good at it, wasn't something he practiced doing, but in times like this, he wished he was at least a little more convincing.]

... If I tell you, I don't want you to get mad.

[ He knows Ban wouldn't get mad at him. But he'd get (even more) mad at humanity, and that wouldn't be fair. Papyrus shifts how he's sitting, and winds up fiddling with his gloves as he talks. ]

A thousand years ago, humans and monsters went to war against each other. The monsters lost, and were sealed underground behind a barrier.

[ And that's the briefest telling of the story he's told. There's more details to the story, but... they're not going to help Ban hate humans less, that's for sure. ]
perma_banned: (sad about sad)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-06 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[What he said sunk in with leaden weight. Ban felt oppression in his life, but he never experienced anything quite like banishment. Among human beings, he was trash--only praised in his later life because of his strength. It was disgusting. Ban could only wonder if Liones would ask for him to seal monsters the same way. Human beings, as he remembered his whole life, did terrible things in the name of fear.]

...

[He listened--going silent and only chiming in when he really felt it was necessary.]

Want to hear a story, buddy~?

[With a hum, his tone went from furious to pleasant in an instant.]

About why none of that surprises me ♪.
boneafide: (pic#9870719)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-07 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Honestly... he doesn't really want to hear the story. He can tell Ban's had a bad experience with other humans. He can tell Ban prefers the company of goblins or monsters. Ban's subtle sometimes, but not always.

But he can tell Ban wants to tell him. And that's what makes it important.]


Well, it's only fair, since you listened to mine!
perma_banned: (fuck me up)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-09 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Ban appraised Papyrus once, before sighing and moving on. The tone of his voice was lofty and bored. Sobriety wasn't helping him in the least. Leaned back, he moved with a heave into the story.]

There was a woman named Roxanne. Rich and intelligent, she was the envy of her town. Rumor had it, that she fancied torturing and killing children--but, no one cared to accuse her or bring her to trial. She was rich, beautiful and fortunate. No matter what she did, everyone would love her and protect her. That was how the world worked.

One day, a boy decided to take on a job to steal from Roxanne, alongside his mentor. The boy had nothing in the world but his name and the clothes on his back. His mentor warned him to be careful before their burgling-- getting caught would be dangerous. The boy, desperate to impress his mentor, snuck in ahead to try and steal from Roxanne before his mentor arrived.

His mentor never came, but it wasn't as if the boy blamed him. When he got caught, the boy was beaten. He was poor and alone, so no one in the world would come to his defense and he knew it. He ruined his chance to impress his mentor, who he didn't blame for leaving, because he had made that mistake for himself. It was his mentor's fault that it went wrong--it was the boy's. He barely escaped from death, coming to understand what had gone wrong.

He was born to the wrong parents, at the wrong time and in the wrong place, but he knew it didn't matter. If he stole from Roxanne, she would be hurt. She would suffer, in a way, so that he could be happy. If he succeeded, it wouldn't have been any different. It was easy to figure out at that point. He understood why everyone hated him.

Everyone else was poor. They wanted enough to survive, but then they also wanted even more. It was because he targeted Roxanne that he realized this. If he stole from one person to just eat, then that would be survival. Stealing from the richest person in town was the same as coveting fame and glory. He wanted much more than food in his belly. He wouldn't have been that way if he weren't a little skilled and arrogant.

It wasn't as if he asked others what they thought of stealing, though. He saw how men and women coveted food, riches and lovers. They way people looked at each other told him that there were thin threads stopping others from gutting one another in the street all the time. The only thing stopping people from committing crime was fear or being caught and imprisoned. Fear was the only thing that made people act decent.

No one was any different than Roxanne. If they were as rich as her, they would do cruel things and feel no remorse. Even the boy realized that if he had that sort of power, he'd be happy to use it. When he realized that much, it was only natural that his conclusion was so simple: that even orphans, weak and pathetic, could be beasts like Roxanne.

Any human being could be a beast with the right security. Even the boy.
boneafide: (pic#9971201)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-11 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ That sure was the worst story time he's ever heard. And while Papyrus didn't go into too many details about why monsters and humans went to war...

Well. It seemed like he didn't need to go much further about that anyway. Ban knew that humans could be cruel. Saying anything more would only reinforce his mindset. But that's one of the things that made Papyrus worry the most about Ban. A human that hates humans with such ferocity, it never let to anything good. For either races.]


Thank you for sharing your story with me, Ban. But...

Do you not think people can change for the better? Be better people if they try to be?

Because I do, with all of my soul. And I think that even if you used to not like who you were, or used to want to be someone else... I think you grew into the kind of person that can think beyond that now. You wouldn't be cruel to someone, just because you could be.
perma_banned: (cleavage)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-11 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
[As if struck by the punchline to a joke, what Papyrus said riled up a smile out of Ban. It was worse than before, if only because--

He had thought about that possibility once, before. He thought if he lived long enough, something good could happen to him--not that he would use it to take from others. He just wanted the world to let something nice happen.

In that argument, he realized where he was wrong.]


Just saying that doesn't mean I haven't been cruel--and, that people haven't suffered and died because of me. Being good...

[He was reminded of his sister starving to death--of Elaine's blood covering him and the feeling of Zhivago's absence.]

Doesn't bring back the dead.

[He didn't know how to put it in words. Every feeling Ban had about wanting to do good spawned from his worst mistakes. It amounted to little, whatever good things he did. When he really needed to be a better person--when it really mattered, he failed.]
boneafide: (pic#9815508)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-11 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
...

[ It's true. It doesn't. And while he's never had to deal with that himself... He feels for Ban. Whatever he's gone through, it's been hard on him, and Papyrus probably wouldn't ever understand. But maybe now... is the best time to ask. Things seemed serious enough, and he's been meaning to say this at some point anyway, ever since he heard Ban mutter this a while ago. ]

...Who is Elaine?
perma_banned: (good lord)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-11 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Papyrus wasn't a mind reader, as far as Ban knew. He had also refrained from telling a soul about Elaine before, too.

There was a more reasonable explanation for it.]


She is-- [He corrected himself. Ban looked away, becoming distant and locked in a memory he visited more often than he should have.]

--Was my lover.
boneafide: (pic#9800225)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-11 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[The pieces made sense now. He doesn't know how long ago this happened, since Ban was immortal, but... if it was true love, he'd never really be over it, would he? ]

Ban...

[A joke or one of his usual japes might not be the best solution here. He knows he and Sans tended to rely on those to make each other feel better, but here... ]

W-wait right there!!

[And with that, Papyrus shuts off his jewelry communicator, choosing instead to book it to what he hoped was the rooftop he thought he recognized. He's in luck this time that goblin rooftops tended to look pretty distinctive, and hurries to climb up the building Ban's sitting on.

Now in person, he ... somewhat unintentionally tackles Ban with the force of his hug, as he wraps his arms around the other. Not that Ban would probably feel much of it, since Papyrus is a skeleton in a costume made to look like a set of armor, but it's not like he's trying to knock him down anyway either.
]

Listen!!

People have to want to be good. You can't force someone to change like that if it's not what they want to do. Maybe you haven't been good in the past...

But you want to be now, right?

You're right that being a good person doesn't bring anyone back... but that's not why someone should do it. You do it so less people have to be sad or lonely.

...I know you're lonely, and you miss her. But as long as I'm here, I want you to know- you aren't alone!! If you're ever lonely, you can call me, okay??
perma_banned: (eats out on shark week)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-12 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
Ah?

[Ban braced himself for more chiding, finding himself surprised when Papyrus flat out disappeared. He barely got what he said at the end, frowning inwardly and tossing his jewel to the other end of the roof in irritation.

When Papyrus showed up, he fed him a terse frown.]


What're you... [The moment Papyrus hugged him, Ban stiffened up. Many times before, Ban hugged Papyrus, but--it was different. He hugged him because he was a cool friend. It was difficult not to hug him for the hell of it.

But, for all he knew, comforting gestures were just an irregularity.]


...You're my friend, alright? That much I'm always gonna be grateful for--'cause, you're better than everybody else by a league, but--

[She was an irreplaceable, important person who wasn't just Ban's friend--she was his lover. Elaine was someone Ban couldn't think to find a substitute for. Arms hanging limp, Ban didn't want to return the hug quite yet. It seemed as if he didn't have strength in his body.]

Life without her doesn't feel right--like, nothin' tastes good. I hate bein' awake. I can't stand bein' alive.

[He never said it out loud, before. Ban had kept that one close to his heart for years.]

Plus... I can't even bring her back~. She's dead and I'll never die.
boneafide: (pic#9971201)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-12 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Papyrus keeps his arms around him, leaning his forehead against Ban's back. The other is still a foot taller than him, and it feels like even more when he's not slouching drunk like he usually is. The familiarity of this doesn't escape Papyrus' thoughts. Not because he's felt this way personally, but...

...A real friend would be able to help Ban figure this out, right? Even if he doesn't know if what he's going to say is right, or works, or will even make a difference... He has to at least try.
]

I don't... know what she's like. I can't speak for her. But...

I don't think she'd want you to be miserable about this.

[Or maybe she would?? But that doesn't sound like the kind of person Ban would like enough to love.]

I know sometimes people can't help it. They have bad days, and even worse days... and it's a fight to even get up in the morning.

[Papyrus is quieter, for a moment.]

Sometimes even my best encouragement... won't work.

[After pausing for a moment after that, his voice rocks back up to it's usual loudness. Not yelling, but... not quite so dejected sounding either.]

Maybe it doesn't mean a lot... but I'm glad you're alive. I'm glad I got to know you! I'm glad we got to be friends.

And I'm glad you haven't given up. I think she would be too.
perma_banned: (ugh)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-14 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
[From one bout of depression to the next, Ban's descent had always been seamless. He never pushed things too far. All he did was soak it in, settling for numbing his pain in liquor. He had to stop drinking for a short while, though--at least for the last aspect of their mission.

It bubbled up too easily when he was sober.

While some would have thought Papyrus' embrace would be lacking in normal human warmth, Ban didn't feel that way. It was surprisingly strong--binding, even. It was natural for Ban to shove others away through his actions--even his friends. Someone, he wanted Papyrus to give up. It would only make sense if he did. Everyone was supposed to give up on him.]


She could have saved her own life, when we were attacked. I wanted her to drink the fountain of youth, but she made me drink it, instead. I thought...

[It was sickening to have those words in his mouth.]

...That she would drink it herself, but she waited until I couldn't move. It was my fault she had to do it. From the start, I was useless man. That much only proves it further.
boneafide: (pic#10006570)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-14 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maybe Ban just needed to talk this out. He'd be here to listen, naturally. But unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot else for him to say. He can't sympathize with being in love with someone, because he never has before. Well, he's been in love with a lot of things, but not... the kind of love maybe that Ban was talking about. He's also never been in a situation where he was nearly dying, or anything like that. Never hard to witness someone die in front of him. It all sounds very traumatic, but he's out of words of wisdom. The only real things he can say at this point... ]

If she saved you, then don't you think she did it because she thought you were worth saving?
perma_banned: (uhm)

[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-18 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
Why wouldn't she? [Ban loathed himself, but he didn't take Elaine or Meliodas' feelings towards him for granted. What he said came out too easily--]

You're one of the rare folks who likes me, even knowing what kind of person I am~.

She loved me even after she found that out.

[Ban turned a bit to give Papyrus a pat on the shoulder. There wasn't really any way out of his friend's concern, but--he knew whatever Papyrus said, it wouldn't help him. Fifteen years of blame and fifteen years of life in hell taught him to give up on himself.]

Don't worry about me, pal~. There isn't any undoing it. Sometiiiimes, it's beyond fixing.
boneafide: (pic#10006564)

[personal profile] boneafide 2016-02-19 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I know.

[There isn't any undoing it that Papyrus can do. He knows. He's tried, with his own brother.

Papyrus always aspired to be a Guardsman, or a Knight, or something of that caliber... But his skills lay mostly in caregiving or helping others. He always had a natural inclination in taking care of people, or trying to do what would make people happy. Maybe that sprung from his infinite attempts to appease everyone, but either way, there were only so many things Papyrus wouldn't do for the sake of someone else.

He knows there's not a lot he can do about depression. It can't be cured with hugs and promises and reminders to cheer up. It's something the other person will struggle with, and it hurts a little that he knows he can't ever just fix someone's problems with enough elbow grease. But he does what he can for Sans. And he'd do what he could for Ban, too.
]

But I'm not going to stop telling you how much you mean to me.
perma_banned: (sad that im dumb)

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[personal profile] perma_banned 2016-02-20 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Ban didn't hold any doubt in him that Papyrus was telling the truth. Papyrus had already shown a bit of wear, but it wasn't in his resolve. For such a happy guy, Papyrus took the sadder aspects of Ban with a measure of grace. After all--hadn't he rushed over to comfort him when he saw how bad he felt? Just like Meliodas. His Captain went through some pains to keep Ban active, knowing when the immortal was in a particularly bad move. He gave him missions and even fought with him to try and make him happy. It must have been difficult, knowing a friend was hurting, but not knowing how to fix it.]

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