hadriel_logs | Event Log: Soulmates

Entry tags:

Event Log: Soulmates

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for Soulmates event
Where: All over the city
When: February 14th-February 22nd
Warnings: None

Oh shit, what even happened last night? You're pretty sure you had a normal night, no crazy drunk antics (unless that is your normal night). But this morning you woke up with a brand new tattoo, and it's... a name?

Maybe it's a name you recognize, one of your good friends. Maybe it's a stranger. Maybe it's someone you can barely stand. No matter who it is, you kind of feel like you should look for them and figure out what's going on with this weird tattoo. And when you find them - well, they've got one too, except this one is your name. It would seem weird, except as soon as you see each other you kind of understand. Of course you'd have a tattoo with the name of the person you've found such an amazing connection with. You were meant to be together.

So enjoy your time with your newfound soulmate. Who knows, you might wake up tomorrow with a whole new name on your arm, a new connection, a new love. Make the most of it!

► This log covers February 14th-February 22nd
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you try to pull off a stupid stunt to impress your soulmate and fail so miserably you die, please let us know here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Jo isn't necessarily running low on anything, she just likes to look. It gives her something to do. Makes her feel useful if she can find something good.

But, ignoring that shirt for now...]

The dragons? When?

Hm, a month ago? Maybe two? I never bother with keeping track of time like that, it's so mundane.

[She grins, though, and then raises one of her arms to show off the hem of a sleeve, which has little metallic trinkets dangling off it like charms.]

Anyway, I killed one and turned its scales into pieces like this. Isn't it lovely? I might do earrings. I bet I could find someone to pierce mine.

[Interesting. Jo leans in to examine the sleeve.]

I guess killing it wasn't too hard for you. [The scales are neat. Jo thinks most of the clothes here suck, but this decoration is a good idea.]

Are you sure you want to pierce your ears? You haven't before?

Of course not, killing anything is simple entertainment.

[Is that Caedra's version of "thank you" for what she interpreted as a compliment? Probably. It isn't even as if she did it on her own; she had help from some mortal. What was his name again? Hm. Not important. The assistance wasn't needed, either. She had been hoping he would prove inadequate and would be eaten by the beast for his attempt.

Ultimately she got some very pretty scales and that's the best part.]

I have, but it has been quite a while. It's just not practical in a fight to have something dangling off your face. But around here, nothing is all that challenging, and the Null don't seem to make much use of close combat. So, dragon scale earrings it is!

[A thought strikes her. A strange one. If she and Jo felt this... pull, this connection, perhaps it would be nice to share something with her? Something to serve as a reminder of how important Jo feels. She tilts her head slightly as she regards Jo with curiosity.]

Would you like some? Scales, I mean.

[If it were any other day, that sentence would have Jo bristling. Killing isn't a sport. It's not fun! Ugh.]

They'll get close if it suits them. [Jo still would admit that Caedra is right in that one sentence. The Null do like the ruthless efficiency of long-distance killing.]

I don't want to take your things. [And that would be the case in any situation with the demon, but right now it's because Jo doesn't like to take things from her friends if they want or need them.]

It wouldn't be taking them, I'm offering. But fine, suit yourself.

[A shrug. She's also not going to insist; she's not that generous. It had just been an odd whim to offer and see what might come of it.]

Where I come from, the scales of true dragons hold power. They're durable and strong, but they also protect against the elements those dragons were born under. It's a shame these were simple wyverns. Utter beasts in comparison. But people feared them! I saw some of you humans cowering under the colosseum arches as if they were about to meet certain death!

[She cocks her head, casts a sideways glance at Jo, amused but curious at the same time.]

Why is it, do you think, that people have so much fear here? Hope will simply bring back any who die. Why does it matter?

[If she had taken them, they would have been gotten rid of soon enough.]

It's never a bad idea to be careful. Hope has disappeared or been injured before. [Jo turns to look at Caedra as well, assessing that look.]

Isn't fearing for your life a pretty normal reaction to danger? It's a natural instinct.

I suppose if you're truly worried about Hope being completely gone one day without anyone realizing, then it's understandable. You all do only have one chance at life otherwise, don't you. But it's still a surprise to me that more of you haven't gotten complacent about it.

[After all, that's one of her foremost difficulties in understanding this place and its people. Everyone seems ready to take so much for granted - but not their lives. Maybe it's just too hard to overcome.]

I'm not sure blaming instinct is the full answer, but it must be a very strong one. Aren't there times when you go against instincts otherwise?

Of course there are. [Jo couldn't even begin to count the times when she's done it herself. And she knows others do it as well.]

It's one of the strongest. To protect yourself.

[Jo doesn't take a lot for granted by now. She stockpiles food. She worries about if the gods will disappear again. About another Null attack.]

Do you really think complacency about death is a good idea?

Oh, I didn't say it was a good idea. It just strikes me as humorous, when most people here are so complacent about so many other things. Like being stuck in the first place, despite wanting to return home.

[But maybe not everyone wants to go back. She has come to realize this - that maybe more of these people than she had first thought are happy being stuck here with cowardly energy clouds. Well, maybe Jo has insights to share. She's already been helpful. Perhaps that's what this connection is - a chance to learn.]

Do you want to go home?

[This is a question Jo always dreads. Home isn't waiting for her. Heaven is paradise, true, but there's no one there.

At least here she has company.]

It's complicated. And what are we supposed to do? We can't control the door. [Even the gods might not be able to.]

Well, have you tried? Has anyone really tried, beyond spending a few minutes thinking about it?

[The Door is an obstacle, anyway. Why are people so obsessed with it being the only answer? She can get herself home, normally, and so can several others here if their skills in magic are any indication.

Probably the real solution is to destroy the thing. That would free her. Hm. There's an idea that she will have to think more about. Tackle it herself, or point the Null to it? That could be very interesting.]

I'm not saying it's easy. But it seems like too many people are too quick to give up, if they really do want to get home. Perhaps those best equipped to do so aren't interested. Perhaps it's "complicated" for them too.

What's the complication?

They have tried. [She doesn't know exactly how it went down, but Kate made it seem like it was bad.

Jo gives Caedra a look and shakes her head.]

Everyone has reasons, right? Even you have motivations that you might not tell other people about. [Jo doesn't think they're worthy motivations, but whatever.]

There's nothing left for me to do back home.

Well, that's not very complicated at all, that's quite the opposite.

[Which, to any other person, she probably would simply suggest they go and die. She would even offer to do it for them! A service, truly. But Jo is a mystery written on her arm and she decides to try and be at least a little gracious, if only for the sake of curiosity.]

Can't you give yourself something to do there? Do you have hobbies? Goals?

[Even today, Jo would fight that suggestion.

When Caedra questions her statement, Jo regrets saying it. Even with her current benevolence, the questions needle at her. Her answer is a little snappy.]

It's hard to do anything when you're dead.

Oh! Is that all? That makes more sense.

[But it's also sort of puzzling. Because after all-]

But do you not have an afterlife? It isn't like life just stops when the body dies. Well. Unless your soul was destroyed but then I imagine you wouldn't be here, would you.

[Jo huffs out an impatient sigh. Caedra is right, but it's not what Jo wants.

She can't help anyone from Heaven.]

You're right, but what am I supposed to do from Heaven? I'm stuck. [Yeah, it's Paradise, and she was happy, but here she wants something more.]

Is the realm of the gods that boring? I've heard all sorts of rumors but didn't realize it was so tedious that you couldn't even have fun. How tragic! It sounds like I made the right choice. Would you care to switch sides?

[No, she imagines, Jo would not care to do that. But it's a very funny thought, casually offering such a thing. Given her work in spreading Amamot's cult in her previous human life, it's only expected that she would continue to do so among the mortals here as well. To no real success so far, admittedly, but there have been little glimmers in the eyes of a few when they realize how they might benefit.]

[It isn't quite that she can't have fun. It's Heaven, it's perfect.

But when she's not there, she wants more.]

No. [Jo gives Caedra a glare. Despite the friendly feelings she has today, she has no desire to become a demon and she remembers Dean after his time in Hell. It's not good.]

Why did you make the choice?

I was young and thought myself very clever and didn't have a full understanding of what I was doing. So I call it good fortune, that I had access to a tome of occult arts and that I turned to it when I was desperate. Lord Amamot has cared for me ever since I first agreed to work for him.

[Which she knows is because she has served him faithfully and well. He's not exactly a generous man to those who displease him. It's almost impossible to imagine any of the Abyssal lords being altruistic and Amamot, a creature who afflicts others with desires for war and bloodshed by his mere presence, is no exception.]

It doesn't bother you that he took advantage of you and you'll pay for it forever?

[It might not, but it bothers Jo. It always bothered Jo. Demons took advantage when people were weak, whether because of desperation or stupidity. It was unfair.]

What a strange question.

[And she's not condescending when she says it. She's genuinely surprised, and confused. Was she taken advantage of? Well, maybe. It's true that she had known less than she had realized. True too that demons take advantage of humans all the time, and she supposes he benefited well from their arrangement and still does, or he wouldn't have made such a bargain.]

Even if your assessment is right, no, it doesn't bother me. I have everything I ever wanted and more. I'm happy. You say I've paid, as if I'm suffering, but I'm not.

[Jo watches Caedra as she answers, shaking her head before the demoness even finishes speaking.]

And it doesn't bother you? It never bothered you that it's all built on ruining lives?

I think you place too much value on them. Does it bother you that your entire civilization is built on the deaths of cattle and sheep and chickens?

[Which is how she views them now, of course. Livestock at best, insects otherwise. It doesn't matter that she used to be one. She was born anew and none of that history matters now. The present is where she prefers to live her life.]

It would bother me more if they had souls. [They don't. She's never seen any animal ghost or anything like that.]

We could take better care of them. Maybe eat less of them. But we're not tricking them either.

Event Log: Soulmates

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