[ guess they're both shrugging through that particular point!
Drolly: ]
Mystery, or horror? [ but more seriously, ] It might help. But Mary didn't act differently from normal or seem to remember anything that happened until the darkness was revealed in spite of itself. It might be that it got to her early and we didn't even have a baseline to compare with. Sol and Lune didn't specify exactly when the corruption occurred, did they?
I don't know, is the thing. It's why I'm asking. What if there might have been signs earlier in the week that we didn't know to look out for. And if so, could we have done something about it. Or is it really that rapid onset, a latent seed of infection that... what, seizes control of the host only during the more extreme darkness of that particular night?
Admittedly, I keep drawing parallels to other things I've seen before-- but given how unprecedented this likely is, I'd imagine too much confirmation bias is would be far from ideal.
It had to do with soul energy before, and a breakdown in whatever processes were involved in the proper purification and distribution of. [ Souls, yeah. ] You might have heard me ask Lune about it when they both first appeared to us.
[ You know, in a public thread, which is why he is being so candid about this in the first place! Even if he's still being incredibly vague about it. ]
But the thing about people seeming on the surface to be as generally fine as anyone else-- unaware, even-- until threatened with the means of their destruction... Well. Regardless of how it apparently happens, that kind of transformation is unfortunately something not unfamiliar to me, no.
That sounds tough to deal with. Or - I guess I know that it's tough, now that I've seen it first-hand, too. Has it happened to someone you know? A friend?
[ not the best way to pry for details, Akane. God. ]
[ said in the tone of someone who also finds it patently stupid, so,,, ]
Strength of will doesn't stop an infection. At best it just prolongs your ability to function before it's too much to deal with anymore. 'We're so sorry, your illness is terminal, but if you take good care of yourself from here on out you might be able to get five years instead of three.'
-- That's something a little different, but. Either way, talking down a divergence catalyst is a fool's errand at best.
Saix-san. He said it could be overcome with strength and bonds or something--but it's pretty idiotic. What do bonds help, when a person could be guilty and not even know it themselves? Trust in their usual character can't mean anything against a corruption like that.
Darkness, or... A "divergence catalyst." Or even just an illness... I don't think we can treat this like anything we're familiar with.
From an idealist's viewpoint I suppose those with strong enough bonds should be able to know when something's wrong, somehow. Though what good it does from there comes down to whether or not they'd be willing to say anything about it.
[ like how leaxel attempted to ignore what people were saying about mary until it all came to a head. ]
But, yeah. I doubt drawing too many parallels to what we've seen before will help. Though it seems the best thing to do regardless is treat them the same way as a catalyst: eliminate them, regardless of who or what they look like.
[ it'd probably be easier for everyone if the darkness didn't allow the victim to act so normal first. ]
[ Yeah, Akane doesn't buy that bonds help. All it's going to do is make you deny an unpleasant truth... ] Sure is scary to admit that, when any one of us could be the next one to kill.
It's almost scarier to think of that than of being killed.
And despite it, they keep telling us that bonds keep the darkness away. That learning to work together with the other people here will defeat the corruption.
Trust despite any fear or wariness; trust your partner, a stranger before all of this happened. You wonder at some point if it's all supposed to be some sort of test, or social experiment.
Mary certainly tried to make her fair share of friends. [ he points out, though whether or not she was completely successful in that is another story.
he settles back... frick we still haven't decided where they are. I guess all their talks happen in the middle of the void now. anyway he settles back a little. ]
If the pattern is as simple as the loners, though, then I suppose we might as well look out for Saix or myself.
[ You were in chat, you saw how many people raised their hands for characters who think they have no friends. That doesn't narrow things down at all!!! ]
[ why did we decide to app a bunch of friendless losers!!! ]
But now our odds of guessing right are so much better. Aren't you reassured by that?
[ when they both just put their names on the shortlist of people who, if the darkness follows the criteria they said it would, would be the first targets for corruption.
hm, is the humor getting a little black in here or is that just the darkness. ]
What's most likely to happen is that we'll run around all day of any more trials anyway, and only figure out a name by the skin of our teeth in the end.
[ the real friends were the something something we made along the way.
Akane laughs. It's a little grim, but it was a good joke!! ]
This time it's not that easy. [ Not that 'figuring it out barely barely barely in time' is easy, but. ] The number of partners don't add up. There are going to be innocent sacrifices.
... Unless a whole lot of people helped with the killing. [ you included. ]
... What, to clean up loose ends? [ hm, yeah, going to have to explain that one a little, Akane. ] Those would still be innocent sacrifices, wouldn't they? The only thing you're changing is the timing of when it happens.
It's just rough when we know we can only form one new partnership... Only one person gets to decide, but everyone'll have different ideas about who to save.
But if you think about it, saving someone is only temporary when we're in a situation like this.
It really is. I expect people to start saving people based on how useful they might be in the short term as soon as they realize this. Whether they think they know something, or otherwise just contribute to the group in general.
[ which bodes not-great for him even if we in the future know that everyone's currently fine,,, ]
Depends on how intelligent the corruption is outside of a host- but yes. Which, of course, makes things incredibly convenient and not messy at all. Do you lie low from friend and foe both and contribute little in order to do so, despite possibly being able to help get this mess solved quicker if you did otherwise-- or do you put yourself out there and wind up in the line of fire?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 01:10 am (UTC)Drolly: ]
Mystery, or horror? [ but more seriously, ] It might help. But Mary didn't act differently from normal or seem to remember anything that happened until the darkness was revealed in spite of itself. It might be that it got to her early and we didn't even have a baseline to compare with. Sol and Lune didn't specify exactly when the corruption occurred, did they?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 01:40 am (UTC)[ But, hm. Akane blinks at that. ]
... You think she might be have been corrupted before she killed? Like, way before?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 03:12 am (UTC)I don't know, is the thing. It's why I'm asking. What if there might have been signs earlier in the week that we didn't know to look out for. And if so, could we have done something about it. Or is it really that rapid onset, a latent seed of infection that... what, seizes control of the host only during the more extreme darkness of that particular night?
Admittedly, I keep drawing parallels to other things I've seen before-- but given how unprecedented this likely is, I'd imagine too much confirmation bias is would be far from ideal.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 03:15 am (UTC)Has stuff like this happened to you, before?
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Date: 2019-06-13 03:24 am (UTC)[ You know, in a public thread, which is why he is being so candid about this in the first place! Even if he's still being incredibly vague about it. ]
But the thing about people seeming on the surface to be as generally fine as anyone else-- unaware, even-- until threatened with the means of their destruction... Well. Regardless of how it apparently happens, that kind of transformation is unfortunately something not unfamiliar to me, no.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 04:17 am (UTC)[ not the best way to pry for details, Akane. God. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 06:58 am (UTC)[ he's ... surprisingly? flippant seeming about it, so. no harm no foul...? ]
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Date: 2019-06-13 08:12 pm (UTC)Is there a solution? Is there a way to fix people?
Someone told me that a strong heart could fight off darkness, but that sounds stupid, to me.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-13 09:14 pm (UTC)[ said in the tone of someone who also finds it patently stupid, so,,, ]
Strength of will doesn't stop an infection. At best it just prolongs your ability to function before it's too much to deal with anymore. 'We're so sorry, your illness is terminal, but if you take good care of yourself from here on out you might be able to get five years instead of three.'
-- That's something a little different, but. Either way, talking down a divergence catalyst is a fool's errand at best.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 02:10 am (UTC)Darkness, or... A "divergence catalyst." Or even just an illness... I don't think we can treat this like anything we're familiar with.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 11:05 pm (UTC)[ like how leaxel attempted to ignore what people were saying about mary until it all came to a head. ]
But, yeah. I doubt drawing too many parallels to what we've seen before will help. Though it seems the best thing to do regardless is treat them the same way as a catalyst: eliminate them, regardless of who or what they look like.
[ it'd probably be easier for everyone if the darkness didn't allow the victim to act so normal first. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 01:17 am (UTC)It's almost scarier to think of that than of being killed.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 01:24 am (UTC)Trust despite any fear or wariness; trust your partner, a stranger before all of this happened. You wonder at some point if it's all supposed to be some sort of test, or social experiment.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 01:56 am (UTC)But that would make a terrible social experiment. Expecting everyone to just get along so well...
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 02:02 am (UTC)he settles back... frick we still haven't decided where they are. I guess all their talks happen in the middle of the void now. anyway he settles back a little. ]
If the pattern is as simple as the loners, though, then I suppose we might as well look out for Saix or myself.
[ is that a joke. who knows. ]
Though I doubt it's anything that easy.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 02:20 am (UTC)Saix-san, you, Cinnabar-san, me.
It's still just a guessing game, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 02:28 am (UTC)But now our odds of guessing right are so much better. Aren't you reassured by that?
[ when they both just put their names on the shortlist of people who, if the darkness follows the criteria they said it would, would be the first targets for corruption.
hm, is the humor getting a little black in here or is that just the darkness. ]
What's most likely to happen is that we'll run around all day of any more trials anyway, and only figure out a name by the skin of our teeth in the end.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 02:52 am (UTC)Akane laughs. It's a little grim, but it was a good joke!! ]
This time it's not that easy. [ Not that 'figuring it out barely barely barely in time' is easy, but. ] The number of partners don't add up. There are going to be innocent sacrifices.
... Unless a whole lot of people helped with the killing. [ you included. ]
no subject
Date: 2019-06-18 07:44 am (UTC)... What, to clean up loose ends? [ hm, yeah, going to have to explain that one a little, Akane. ] Those would still be innocent sacrifices, wouldn't they? The only thing you're changing is the timing of when it happens.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-18 06:56 pm (UTC)It's just rough when we know we can only form one new partnership... Only one person gets to decide, but everyone'll have different ideas about who to save.
But if you think about it, saving someone is only temporary when we're in a situation like this.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-18 11:01 pm (UTC)[ which bodes not-great for him even if we in the future know that everyone's currently fine,,, ]
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Date: 2019-06-19 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-19 11:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-19 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-20 06:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
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