listen to your heart 😌

[parrygripp]

"Can You Handle Your Emotions?"

Emotions are... eh. We all have them, whether we want to or not. Some people have control over their emotions, and some people let their emotions control them. Where does your character fall on this spectrum? More importantly, what's their relationship with their emotions like? Do they bury everything deep, deep down inside, or are they the first one to cry over a sappy movie? Do they even know how they feel about what's going on inside? Pretty meta stuff.

• No blank top-levels.
• Instead, characters are to respond to the proposed question: can you handle your emotions? / are you in touch with your feelings?
• Get deep. Look within. Hear, think feel... or don't.

Comments

[athermercy]

[Death of the Endless! Pale, wears all black, and has the most amazing eyeshadow! Elaine adores her!]

Do you have a problem, mm, separating your emotions from others'?

[Softly, a little concerned.] 

Well. I get that a little. I mean, when I was a looot younger, I used to randomly feel what other people felt and thought. And I couldn't switch it off until later. [And then, she went back to square one, or even worse, but she can roll with it.]  Maybe you'll learn to be able to sort it out one day. Even if you can't stop feeling theirs, you'll just need to become sure which ones are yours.

[fellfurthest]

Yes.

Sounds like Father.

Ugh. What if I just don't want to have feelings about certain things?

[athermercy]

Maybe try to...avoid people or, er--demons who make you feel that way? When you get overwhelmed, just go somewhere quiet where you can be yourself. Get some space and take long breaths. There're a few options for this aside from that. The ideal would be for you to learn to control it or to strengthen your sense of self so that no intruding emotions can affect you.

[fellfurthest]

I do enjoy cursed music. And classical.

It's actually why I switched to that from reading.

[athermercy]

There you go. What about playing an instrument? That also makes you focus on the music you make and not just the one you listen. Just an idea. You can rent a studio or go somewhere to do that when you get overwhelmed. But this is just a coping mechanism. You'll need to figure out a long-term solution.

[fellfurthest]

I do. Piano, violin, guitar, drums. And compose.

I probably wouldn't do a studio, I have a music room, and it would be too difficult to find much time.

I seldom get... overwhelmed. [... Or rather, that's his constant state of existence so he doesn't know the difference. Close enough?]

[athermercy]

Sounds like you have the room, and the instruments, but you need to start making some time for yourself. [Sideeye.] Welllll. You were sounding overwhelmed since the beginning of this conversation.

[fellfurthest]

I stand by what I said. I still think no one is actually good with their emotions.

[athermercy]

No offense, but that just means you're surrounded by people in need of therapy.

[fellfurthest]

It's Hell. How many times do I have to say it??? I mean it literally. I mean, as far as I can tell, Devildom is at least Hell-lite. But it's just tortured people plagued by demons, and the demons they're all plagued by. I'm not opposed to therapy, but there aren't enough therapists to go around. And there are better ways to do it than just talking. Less time consuming ones too.

[athermercy]

You have time to listen to music if you choose, so I didn't think it would be like the stereotypical fire-and-brimstone Hellscape. We used to get that at home, and demons didn't have emotions because they lacked souls. You sound too normal to be like that.

Maybe just talking is worth trying. Time isn't lacking when you're not short of it.

[fellfurthest]

All demons are is bundles of raw emotions lacking wisdom and control. I've yet to meet one who has no emotions. They're more keyed up than some of the most abused wild animals. Even cursed artifacts simply become one after the spirit of it has been hurt so badly it starts to shut down and lashes out in the only way they know how.

Don't assume I have infinite time. I'm not my Father. I'm always short on time. And be grateful for it. Without that, we'd be much more like the fiery barren hellscape you imagine.

[athermercy]

Ones back home didn't have them. They could, uh, "obtain" feelings from the souls they tortured and kind of consumed them like drugs? [That effect ran out, so they kept torturing, like an addiction.] A lot changed after billions of years. [Thanks to a human, Christopher Rudd started a revolt of the damned. Welllll, she doesn't get into details.] And they obtained their own souls.

[Happy ending. She pauses.]

Hey now, I didn't presume you had infinite time, but you aren't going to die in a few decades, right? You can allow yourself to take things more easily. For your mental wellness, too. Your well-being matters.

[fellfurthest]

[He thinks about it.] Faeries weren't too emotional before demons. And they didn't have souls either. Devildom -- a lot of the demons and faeries are mixed now. But like I said, the shadows are just Jungian to an extreme degree, he knew what he was writing about.

Now you sound like Michael.

I hate hearing that.

I know, I'm more productive when I get sleep. [Who was it who had to tell Father that after "day 6" when he started getting loopy with making Metatron? Uriel, right?] And lashing out at my brothers isn't conducive to any of my goals.

[athermercy]

[Ooooh, see he's connecting some. Dots. Concidences. Patterns. But fae and demons are different, and fae do have a spirit. At least, in the old Creation she came from. Everybody deserves a fresh start, so she believes.]

Pft. Maaaybe. [She giggles when she hears the comparison.] I'm a Michael's daughter, sooo I got to be at least a little like him. [Not that she knew him very well.]

Sounds like you're making things harder for yourself. But those are your honest emotions, you know. So you're not as bad with them as you thought.

[fellfurthest]

[Always. He can't stop the pattern recognition or THINKING anymore than the empathy. Less than, even.]

[He arches SUCH an eyebrow at that. That would make her a niece????? Except... that... 1) Michael can't have kids 2) isn't his brother anymore.]

[An eyeroll.]

I'm not trying to.
Make it harder.
I'm not trying to make it harder on myself. [HUFF.]

Yes, being cursed with honesty as well as empathy is a good cocktail for ensuring I can recognize some of the blithering obvious at least.

[athermercy]

You're not trying, but intention and result sometimes don't align. [She adds softly, ignoring the family bagagge stuff. He's making things hard, even if he didn't mean to.]

It's fine, my uncle wouldn't lie either. [Not a good reassurance. But honesty shouldn't be a curse.] You just need to learn it's okay to stop and enjoy yourself when you no longer can get in touch with your emotions. Presuming nobody can be good with them because you aren't is just being narrow-minded. Instead, think of it this way: if someone else has a good grasp on that, so can you.

[fellfurthest]

Thanks Dad. [DRIPPING WITH SARCASM.]

[And yeah just twitches. Fine fine, he gets it. He's Lucifer. So what's new?]

[Ugh.]

[He hears her at least.]

[Scowling. A little red. But not arguing with her.]

[Drums his fingers in thought.]

What's the first step? To learning it? Practicing. Not the getting space to grow my sense of self. The other one.

[athermercy]

Well, I didn't ask your name, but that's becoming a little obvious when you bring up your Dad a lot.

[ She flashes a wry smile. Not that her uncle liked to talk to him, but this amount of daddy issues is a sign. She can also recognize Patterns. Even when she's tried not to Look for them. ] Mine's Elaine Belloc, by the way. Nice to meet you.

[She hurries to add as a sidenote. Then clears her throat.]

I think that depends on your temperament, and those curses are literal? If empathy and honesty are curses, they are meant to weaken you. So two paths here: You either learn how to break the curse to get rid of them-----ooor you find a way to overturn them and make them become blessings to strengthen you. That's a choice only you can make.

[fellfurthest]

Father. Creator. Never that familiar. Familial, yes, but not disrespectful. I only used it sarcastically in this case to illustrate a point. [He has a decent amount of FEAR of his Father. Since if he goes too far he still has a lot he can lose.]

You too Elaine. Sorry you're catching me in one of my atonalist periods. [To stick with the music references.] Is your version of your father still around? My version often sends me unsolicited advice like this, that I can't even ignore for it making too much sense. You're doing the same thing. It's... a compliment. [Nope. Couldn't be more awkward.]

I'm fine with them being curses. They can't weaken me. Pointing out places for me to work on strengthening isn't much different from Beelz' working specific muscle groups. [NO LISTEN, HE IS NOT AGREEING WITH HER. BECAUSE HE WILL NOT FUCKING CALL THEM BLESSINGS. STFU.] And while I cursebreak as a hobby, this isn't one that has been serving me poorly. [And he mostly just cursebreaks to free trapped spirits when they're ready. And it gives him that sense of accomplishment rush of PRIDE he so THRIVES on.]