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redactable2020-11-07 09:41 pm
retellers) wrote in redactable2020-11-07 09:41 pm
Entry tags:
WEEK FIVE: REMOVAL
WEEK FIVE: REMOVAL (25 remain) Time to wake up, participants of the Realm. At 8am, everyone will receive a message on their PHS. Go to where the freaky puppet hell theater used to be across the bridge. Even if the participants ignore the message (or are sleeping in, shame on them), as 9am approaches they will fall victim to a compulsion to head to the specified location. Three Leaders, Tiger, Goat, and Swan, are already present, Jeanne with them. Goat speaks. "... We are the choices we make. May yours bring you closer to the future you wished to see." Once they finish speaking, an alert goes off from a PHS in the crowd—specifically, Zuko's. No explicit message this time, though! Presumably, everyone gets the idea by now and now no one has to deal with glitched text. Regardless of their will, they will feel compelled to walk towards the scene. No other participant will be able to interfere; should they try, a barrier blocks their way. |
NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories |
no subject
This is a little in poor taste.
[ She's steady as she walks up to the pyre. There is no fear in her demeanor, only a set and grim resignation. ]
It's just like history to repeat, isn't it?
[ It's not said as a joke, but it's meant as a humorless one even it's something that will fall flat for even those who do know what she's referencing. ]
I can take care of most of it, if you don't wish to, Zuko.
[ It's not like this is unfamiliar to her. ]
no subject
[ this is extremely in poor taste, and he hates it. but refusing isn't an option. even if he tries to say no, she'll still die. painfully. terribly. ]
[ he's angry, though. ]
You're about to be burned alive, and you're still saying things like that?! Can't you be selfish for once in your life?!
[ it's not really her that he's angry at. that much is clear. his voice is hoarse -- it almost cracks. not quite. ]
[ he takes the rope. ]
no subject
I was a little selfish yesterday, I think. I wanted to acknowledge a wish for longer than I should have... and I tried to get enough people to accuse me even if they didn't want to.
[ Wasn't that a little selfish? To hold off on some truths to acknowledge some others?
Wasn't it a little selfish to want a little more time? ]
But this isn't the first time I've burned, and it won't be the last.
I'm sorry it has to be you.
no subject
Making people accuse you when you're the one on the chopping block isn't being selfish!
[ but there's no point in this particular fight, and deep down, he knows it. jeanne is jeanne. he can't change her. he has to swallow when she apologizes, when she talks about how it won't be her last time. he tries to yell at that, but the words won't come. ]
[ instead, he moves. unsteadily, wobbily, he moves forward to take her hand (gently, despite the way he's been yelling), rope in the other hand. jaw clenched up tight. it's less out of anger and more because he doesn't want to look vulnerable in front of an audience. or maybe it's both? who's to say. ]
I'm going to knock you unconscious once I'm finished tying you up.
no subject
How it must be her even if they wished it could be anyone but her.
And it did have to be her because she made it clear that it was her. Above everyone else, she made sure everyone knew it was her—a beacon as bright as the fire that is about to burn her.
She takes Zuko's hand, if only to make it easier for him, and stands up onto the pyre, but she immediately pulls her hand away and almost pitches forward (because she is still sick, no matter how much willpower she has, no matter how much she's prayed, no matter how much she doesn't seem to be). ]
No. I will not not meet my death in such a way.
[ She does not want to be unconscious in her last moments. ]
no subject
[ when she wavers, he braces himself to catch her, automatically. even though he's sick, too. he's hurting. ]
[ he's kept moving through worse conditions -- but right now, he doesn't have the same drive as he did before. it's harder. ]
We both know what it feels like to be burned! [ she's just said as much! is there no limit to her self-sacrifice? her pride? ] It's not going to make a difference once this fire starts! So just--- stop being stubborn!
[ it's pointless to argue. he knows. and yet.... ]
[ he just wants to do this one thing for her. this one thing. he can't stop this, he can't save her from this fate, but the least he could do... ]
no subject
I know I'm being stubborn.
[ Her voice is soft, quiet, and it's hard to say if her voice carries or not. ]
But I— I still want to have a choice, here. I may have all but asked people to vote for me yesterday, but I... still want to be alive, if only for one moment longer.
[ Because even if she can't stay, even if she did choose to leave, that doesn't mean—
That doesn't mean that there isn't a small part of her that's selfish. If she only allowed herself to acknowledge it - and isn't that what people have asked her to be?
Even if she knows that her selfishness will hurt people more (because she doesn't have the right to be).
She just wants to be able to see the people she cares about for that much longer even if the short time she has left can't even be called short anymore. ]
no subject
[ his hand wavers. he can't do it. ]
[ he can't even grant her this one mercy in these last moments. (is it a mercy? he thinks about his own scar, how he'd gotten down and kneeled for his father's forgiveness. how he'd raised his head as ozai approached, and his hand reached down, towards zuko's face--) ]
[ (would it have helped, to be unconscious? would it really have helped, in the end?) ]
[ ... this is what she wants, isn't it? is it the right thing to do, to pass up a chance to lessen her suffering, because that's what she wants? ]
[ he doesn't know. he don't know what's right and what's wrong. maybe he never did. ]
[ he lowers his hand, and gets to work on tying her, silent. he's caved to her will.. again. ]
no subject
Even with all her injuries she's sustained over the last few days, she keeps still as he ties her to the pyre. This is all she can do in her last moments.
It really is nostalgic, but at least this time, she's being burned for something she's actually guilty of.
It's not something she's sad about. There isn't something she should be sad about because it's only natural providence.
When he finishes tying her to the pyre, she says softly: ]
I'm ready.
[ If only to try to ease however hard this is for him, if only by a little. She knows it won't do much, but it's an attempt.
Because even if she's ready, it doesn't mean it won't hurt. ]
no subject
[ once he's done, he takes a step back. steeling himself. ]
[ if azula were here, she wouldn't have even tied jeanne to the pyre. she would have just killed her, then and there. ]
[ ozai, too. he would have made it as painful as possible. he would have sneered at zuko's shameful weakness. ]
[ uncle.... ]
[ zuko can't think about how iroh would react. ]
There's nothing you want to say beforehand?
[ to them? the spectators? her final moment, before it starts. he's letting her have it, if she wants it. ]
[ even though he's afraid of the kind words he knows she'll say. of her gentle, bright smile. ]
no subject
You asked me if I couldn't be selfish, so if I could make one selfish request.... then if you could all ensure that we all could come back, I would appreciate it. I told someone if there was a way for me to come back to their side, I would.
[ A beat. ]
And I'd like to not be made a liar.
But I truly was glad to have the chance to meet everyone here. Even in this situation, I truly am glad.
[ After confessing to murder and on the precipice being burned at the stake for a second time, that's all she has to say. ]
1/2
[ he nods in response to her request. ]
We'll make sure of it.
[ and that's all he can say in response to it. ]
[ he takes a step back, and lights the flint. it takes a few tries, because his hands are unsteady. ]
[ because of the poison? ]
[ maybe. but he finally manages to get a fire going (funny, how much he'd longed for his firebending. this is probably the closest he's gotten, and he doesn't want it) ]
[ fire lit, he stops to allow her one last moment before it begins. let her brace herself. allow himself one last moment, too, for this weakness. ]
[ despite the hesitation, the weakness, the mercy he knew ozai would hate, zuko can't help but feel--- ]
[ -- he really is the firelord's son. not iroh's. ozai's. ]
no subject
[ then, he kneels in front of it - just out of reach to be burned, but close enough to feel the heat. he's watching, too. watching her. ]
[ he'll keep kneeling until it's over. and maybe then some. ]
no subject
(The young are impressionable... and their passion, I always hope, can be coupled with compassion, too. If anyone deserves to cling on to the hope that the world does not have to be nothing but darkness and cruelty, it is the young.)
(I paid to have her resurrected a long time ago. It's fine if I never see her again.)
(For years, I spent all my time chasing after the love of a father who banished me for speaking out of turn, and I did so many selfish things and turned a blind eye to the cruelties my country was inflicting on the world. I refuse to be that man again.)
(Losing someone isn't unfamiliar to anyone, especially to anyone here. Everyone has lost someone and I don't think myself any more special above anyone else, but just once—I want to be given the idea that I could protect someone precious to me.)
(I'm sorry, Jeanne. It was just coming from a human who cares, more than anything else. I might be an Overseer, but being neutral never was my strong suit.)
(Everyone has people that are waiting for them. Everyone, everyone is important. As much as it hurts, I...
...I'd rather lose everything I know than see another person pass.)
(I'm not going to ask you what happened, if you'd rather not discuss it. However, please stop prioritizing every single person over yourself. Just once. That's all I ask.)
(All of their hopes, their dreams, their despair- all of the memories of my people have only ever rested with me. Ask of the ocean, then, how many drops it might hold, and you may receive as much of an answer as I can give you.)
(Just making decisions, and hoping the outcome in the end is the slightly better one. You can't predict the future unless you're like, real good at future sight, and that's only good for about 60 seconds or so. And you can always look back at the past and go, well, shouldn't have done that! Could have made a different move! But you can't change it. Even if you try, it hurts worse in the end. There's really only forward.)
(Yeah. I, uh. I've been thinking about that a lot here. And how much I want to save the people here, and what it might take to do it. It makes that memory seem like, uh, like an easy choice.)
(...I don't think he was, either. But when I do see people who turn a blind eye to other people's suffering, I think they're horrible.)
(Maybe it's just that people don't get the chance to get better. They fuck up and they get killed for it, and then we have to move on.)
(They've managed to bring me back a few times before. I know I can count on them to do it again. I just have to wait.)
(Of course. The world is filled with good people.)
(... At this point, I only want them to rest. To find peace, if they're able. And to not leave this mortal realm alone.)
(You needn't thank me for anything like that.
Not when the privilege of knowing you, and being able to realize that someone like you exists - far outweighs any hardship or pain.)
And the fire continues to grow. ]
no subject
In fact, it seems as if it doesn't burn her, and after the fire continues to be bright for a few more minutes, a rain cloud suddenly appears and bursts above her heard, dousing the flames.
Jeanne blinks in disbelief, stunned, as she isn't burned alive for once in her life.
She has no words. ]
no subject
Hurray, Jeanne is still alive! Wow, guess she really was a witch after all—
Anyway, normally this is the part where everyone would go home, but the Leaders aren't leaving yet, so maybe you shouldn't either...?
With that said, later in the day, everyone will receive an alert for the NOVA CHECK app. Looks like weekly rankings are up! Furthermore, the Leaders will be responding to requests at the Planetarium again. ]
no subject