futurology | video | un: man of still

Entry tags:

video | un: man of still

Okay, seriously, is this for real?

[ Hello there, fellow recruits! Today, the network brings you a fascinating video of... a hand. A hand that is waving, though less in a hello-how-are-you way and more in a I-am-so-done-with-everything way.

The hand pulls back, though, revealing an arm clad in green-grey plaid shirt (don't knock the plaid, okay, the plaid is eternal)... and eventually, the face of a teenager. Who is currently making the most judging face you will ever see in your life. ]

What kind of bomb needs fish hearts and sea urchins? It's like someone just threw together a list for the most random and incidentally dangerous things they could think of. And do you even need these anymore? Is the bomb a thing? I mean, the briefing I got was... uh, let's just say hurried. [ More like non-existent, but, yeah.

Stiles pauses, like something has just occurred to him. ]

... Right, probably should've started with that. The "hi weird jewel amulet I literally just got here and have no idea about anything" thing. And also the "I really hope someone actually sees this and I'm not sitting here and talking to a piece of jewelry" thing. Does this work? Is this working?

[ He leans in and pokes the jewel. ] For my own peace of mind, I'm saying it's working. I mean, magic jewels is, like, the least weird thing about all of this. [ Wish he'd shut up yet? Sorry, you are currently subjected to the Talkamus Stilinskimus, a very un-rare case of rambling that occurs whenever Stiles so much as opens his mouth.

Your wish is about to be fulfilled, though, as he claps his hands together. ]

Anyway! Go... team? [ ... such eloquence. But in his defense, no one ever told him talking to invisible people you don't even know actually exist would be this awkward.

That is the last sight of him anyone on the network sees, though his voice still follows, almost like he can't stop the think-at-the-jewel-and-it-will-broadcast quickly enough. ]

... is there a team? Man, I hope there's a team.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, great.

[ Mortals, and that was such a casual remark it sounds zero percent like a joke. Which makes it true, which makes this... just, great. ]

Yeah, I got that, and I will -- just, answer one thing first. Then I'll tell you all you want to know about my non-multiversial travels. Wait, is that even a word? Multiversum? Inter-dimensional?

[ Shit, he got sidetracked there; excuse him as he points his finger at the magitek jewel and thus at Loki. ] Is your username your actual name?

[ hello, surprise. ]

Inter-dimensional. Multiversal. Omniversal. Alternate universal funtimes. It's all the same. [ it's said between drumming, dark-nailed fingers. it's possible he feels like he's getting pointed at before he's pointed at, and glances back over at him. ]

Yes, it's my actual name. I'm the totally for real Loki, mischief man of the Ten Realms, god of chaos and lies, ruiner of things and serpent of two tongues, etcetera etcetera.

And you—are you really man of still, or is that just a clever online handle?

Thanks, I'll write those in my pocket dictionary. [ Or not, but thanks anyway? Maybe. ]

Okay, so- you could be pulling off a really good cosplay, but for some reason? I'm actually inclined to believe you. [ Whether or not it makes him crazy is debatable, but... he's just getting actual real god-vibes from this guy. ] I sort of thought you'd be, you know, a bit older, but then I'm also guessing you can appear any age you want.

[ A pause. ] Also, god of chaos and lies? I'm not sure about the chaos but the lies I can get behind. [ So not sure about the chaos, mostly because of... well. Recent events at home. Normally he's all about the chaos, especially if it can be used to his advantage. ]

It's the cleverest online handle, dude, you don't even know. So my last name is Stilinski, and, actually- you probably know Polish, right? So then you know that inski means of something, and when talking of a guy it means man of something, and "stil" sounds really close to "still". [ And from the way Stiles speaks a mile a minute, hands gesturing, the other clever part of the name makes itself known -- he is about as far from being a "man of still" as can be. ]

[ give him an inch, and he goes off into forever. it's curious, really, the manner and the tone and the way it fluctuates when he starts talking about something that's of interest to him. (there was a time when Volstagg considered Loki's most dangerous trait his quaint observance, hungry for weakness to exploit. Loki would agree.) ]

Impressive wordplay, spanning a few literal meanings and language barriers. Better than your average pun. [ the rest of the commentary he leaves in the wind. an older Loki wasn't really a Loki that anyone would want to meet while leaving a trail across the omniverse. ] A eight and a half out of ten, as "still the man" is still an option.

[ that, however, seems to amuse him. ]

[ And there it is, the easy pitfall in the road to reading Stiles Stilinski; he speaks a lot, gestures more, and it is so easy to write him off as nothing more. Yet Stiles pauses, considers, and finally, raises an eyebrow. ]

An impressive way of avoiding answering to any of the things I said about you.

[ Leave the commentary in the wind if you wish, but don't imagine he won't call you out on it.

Then: a sigh. ]

Damn, that would've been really good, too. Do you happen to be, like, a god of wordplay, too? Puns? Though I mean, I guess there's something to be said for straightforwardness in handles, too. [ Case in point: Loki's own. ]

[ there's a crack of a smirk. ]

I am; it's one of those things that comes with the whole lies and chaos thing.

[ though Loki's handle is straightforward due to his own design. when the will of the universe weighted on him to be something that he wasn't, he needed to fill the gaps with the deeds that he was. one of the best ways to do that was to leave a mark, so everyone knew what Loki was doing. not unlike building another myth, a better one, for a better Loki. ]

If you're insistent on answers, you'll start with which ones were the questions, and we'll go from there.

So—shoot.

I knew it, lies and puns totally go hand in hand.

[ It makes sense -- both need cleverness and quick thinking. And so does Loki's method, little though Stiles knows of it. ]

Wait, really? [ He is quick to get over the surprise of Loki being actually willing to respond to the questions he might have, though; too quick, perhaps, like there is one burning question he has to ask, above anything else. ]

So... you're a god. An actual god. How did they get you here? More importantly, how are they making you stay? What kind of organization is ALASTAIR if they have the power to do that? [ Because, frankly, that sounds somewhat terrifying. ]

Really. [ there's a toss of his fingers, as if he's dismissing it. ] I'm an actual god. [ though divinity differs on occasion, but he doesn't even bother with that one, not yet. ]

Well—I tripped, like the rest of you. Though everything considered, it's not so much a matter of "making me stay" as much as it's one of "I'd haven't tried to break out."

[ there are a few things he prides himself on, and one of them is any and all methods of running away. could they hold him, if he didn't want to be here? it was difficult to tell, he hasn't exactly tried to wiggle his way out yet. ]

Sometimes it's nice to traverse the multiverse without having to leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind you, just because I'm a god doesn't mean I'm omniscient; there are rules of reality that are still rules, even when I bend them. I see this more as an opportunity, you don't get it every day, do you?

Well, not without the ambiguous form of debt they seem insistent on. Though ALASTAIR doesn't seem to know much of what ALASTAIR is doing, these days.

So... you're totally happy, being stuck here, thrown to different places to act according to very bad, very shady instructions from an organization that's totally suspicious.

[ Then again -- this is Loki he's talking to. ] Wait, no, those wouldn't bother you, would they?

[ And indeed they don't, as Loki goes on to explain; an opportunity, he calls this, and a small part of Stiles... agrees. When is he ever after this going to be able to get out of his own planet, own universe? See different places like this?

Never. And that small part of him is tempted to leave trying to break out to those who find the thought more pressing... but no, his dad needs him. Scott needs him. And whatever opportunities he might have, here, he's not abandoning those he loves just for his own curiosity. ]

Yeah, I kind of figured. [ His first introduction to ALASTAIR wasn't exactly trust-inspiring, in any capacity. ]

Totally happy is a tad bit of an exaggeration. Even bad situations have their uses. [ it all game down to how to use something. for Loki, even events that could possibly hinder him could be used for something. he was good at rearranging debt; no one wanted debt from him, almost as much as no one wanted to be in his debt.

this situation is far preferable to the precarious circumstances that await him at home. ]

Though I think it's more ALASTAIR's poor communication skills, rather than any nefarious dealings on their part. That still does bring up another good question: what basis are they making these the decision? What world needs help, what world gets destroyed?

If there's a beholder, they're doing a fine job of keeping it under wraps.

So... biding your time?

[ Does that sound more appropriate? It is the strategy Stiles is going for, too, when he eventually has enough to go on to be able to bide his time at all, instead of this blind stumbling in the dark with little answers and even less control. ]

Maybe we should sign them up for Interpersonal Communication 101.

[ Sarcasm aside, the question Loki poses is one that has been plaguing Stiles' mind, too... and more than that, the question it leads to, an inevitable end to the road. ]

Yeah... and how do we even know these are the right decisions? What if in the grand scheme of things, one planet being destroyed is going to ensure that all the surrounding planets survive, and if we save it, ten other planets die instead?

Well—it's not as if other worlds haven't been destroyed by ALASTAIR. They've had their fair share of it, I'm sure. It's not just universal, it's in terms of the integrity of the timeline, or so they say. Though I doubt it's based on the moral upholdings of right and wrong.

Divine plans differ from the mortal.

[ there's a shrug in his voice. ]

It's about choice, freedom, that sort of thing.

Yeah, right, cause you'd know all about that.

[ The divine plans, he means. ]

What if I choose to question everything they're doing? I mean, I'm not saying I can do anything about it, because I can't, not yet anyway... and most people seem to think that doing what they tell us means we have a chance of getting back home. But I'm not going to trust them or what they tell us, either.

[ having a father that had planned to raze the mortal realm for the "greater good of all the realms"—yes, he remembers that very vividly. even if he was a bird at the time. ]

Freedom and choice aren't as easy of concepts as some think.

[ a quirk of his head. ]

Ask me about it when we finish this mission.

You don't have to tell me that.

[ He knows all too well. Better than he'd like, honestly. ]

Sure, hey, something to look forward to! If we ever get out of here, that is. [ Ha, ha... that's mostly a joke. Mostly. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

video | un: man of still

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject