✨ you only get one chance...

[liltuna]

THE FIRST IMPRESSION MEME   You only get once chance to put your best foot forward. Screw that up, and you'll be forever seared in someone's mind as the person who had spinach in their teeth, or worse! ✨HOW TO PLAY 1. Drop a top-level! 2. If you have previous CR with someone, you'll have to let them know what your first-impression of them was. If this is your first time meeting, you'll be compelled to share what kind of vibe they give off. It's okay to be honest! Are they gross? Do they seem approachable? Do you find them incredibly hot?  3. Find out if your first impression was correct! Maybe that strange loner actually has a heart of gold? You'll never know unless you talk to them!

Comments

Paul Atreides | Dune

[desertpowered]

[longitudinally]

Dangerous.

[desertpowered]

What strikes you as dangerous about me? Interesting description.

[She's correct, of course - the reason why Paul is questioning further. He's curious.]

[longitudinally]

You have hands that want things and hands that take things. People who claim like that are dangerous.

[desertpowered]

Well...you aren't wrong, really, though I can promise you that I'm no threat to you and yours. Who are you?

[Paul doesn't particularly relish violence - but she's right that there's something bubbling inside him that even he isn't completely comfortable with. But he isn't at that point yet. Her words remind Paul of the bloody future that lies ahead of him.]

[longitudinally]

Oh, I'm a sylph! [ She stays constantly out of reach, keeping her distance, her wings fluttering and her feet seeming to barely touch the ground. ] I share a spirit with the forests. I'm born from the wind.

[ A small frown, as she cocks her head. ]

Where does your heart belong?

[desertpowered]

Born from the wind, a spirit of the forests. I've never met a sylph before, but there's a first time for everything. [Paul bows to her formally, both to be polite and trying to seem nonthreatening.] My name is Paul Atreides. It's good to meet you.

[Some kind of nature spirit. Interesting, and someone who deserves Paul's best manners.]

Well. I don't know yet, though I have a better idea than some. Why do you ask?

[longitudinally]

[ At his formal bow, she lights up and slowly, carefully, curtsies as well. A flutter of light as air skirts. ]

Because it's important to know where your heart belongs, Paul Atreides, or someone might lead it astray.

[desertpowered]

[Paul can't help but smile a little at the curtsy. The sylph seems friendly enough and the new perspective is one he appreciates.]

I suppose I'm going to have to learn, then. Being controlled is something I don't want. How should I do this?

[longitudinally]

Give you heart to someone you trust! That way, if anyone should come for it, it will already be gone and safe in the hands of someone else.

[desertpowered]

That makes sense. I have to trust that I know when I meet the right person. It's safer for me not to trust easily. Where I come from, betrayal and treachery aren't uncommon.

[longitudinally]

Humans make them so. But you must learn to trust regardless. It is not whether we're betrayed, it's whether we're capable of forgiveness!

[desertpowered]

Ah, forgiveness is difficult, depending on how severe the offense is. Can you forgive everyone who wronged you, however grievously?

[uncannyraptor]

I thought that you are strange.

I still think that you are strange for a human, but it's a good kind of strange now.

[desertpowered]

It's not bad to be a little strange.

Thank you. I thought you seemed interesting at first, and now I think of you as a good friend.

[uncannyraptor]

Thank you. I can't say that I have had many friends so far. Too much of my life was spent running and hiding.

[desertpowered]

You and I both. It's hard to have friends when everyone around you has expectations of you and how you can help them. It gets a little exhausting.

[uncannyraptor]

Either that, or they want to kill or use you somehow.

[He allows himself a tiny sigh under his breath. Even his own mother had some expectations and plans for him.]

You keep amazing me with your patience. I would most likely have worded it less nice.

[desertpowered]

It’s usually one of those two. Killing or using, or if you’re unlucky it’s both.

[Paul shrugs. He does have a temper rarely, but in general he’s calm to the point where it can be unsettling. He would relate to conflicted feelings about his mother.]

Well, I was trained in diplomacy when I was young. It comes with the territory. You have to be polite and careful even with people you don’t like sometimes.

[uncannyraptor]

That sounds a lot like the training I had. The Ennead and further gods and demigods of Egypt aren't exactly known for being easy to reign.

[More like trying to herd a bag full of cats high on catnip and plenty of drunk monkeys alike all at the same time more often than not. His father apparently managed to do it by being beloved and respected by all, but even that hadn't kept him from being murdered, so who knows.... ?]

Did they ever give you lessons on mercy?

[desertpowered]

Humans aren't that much easier. Leadership is difficult, especially when you try to do it properly. That may be why so many rulers slip into tyranny. It's the easy route, or at least seems that way if you're the kind who doesn't care.

[Paul's family was the exception, but Paul himself worries about where he'll end up, regardless of what he wants. Some of the things he sees in his visions frighten him - as well as what they imply about him and what exactly he's set in motion.]

Yes. I...prefer mercy, but it isn't always realistic, I've found. When I kill I prefer it to be quick.

[uncannyraptor]

[He just nods. What Paul said about leadership is actually a pretty accurate explanation of why Seth's rulership had ended up being such an abhorrent mess. People accused Seth of being willfully evil, but much of what Horus has witnessed was just an extremely bad case of the wrong man at the wrong place.]

I'm a little jealous. Recently I've been thinking that I could have used a lesson like that as well. Maybe we can trade?

[desertpowered]

[Sometimes it is willful evil, but just as often it’s someone who isn’t ready to wield that kind of power over others or who’s used to unquestioned rule. A tyrant might be a perfectly capable general or politician in another world or time, if their skills were better applied. Paul swallows - he knows better than to believe good intentions couldn’t lead down that road, too.]

Maybe we can. I think we can learn a great deal from each other. And I’d like to take you up on that flying trip you offered.

[uncannyraptor]

[He notices Paul's unease and gives him a questioning look.]

Then it's a plan. I will take you flying and maybe I can organize something to eat for us too, and in return you share what you've learned with me.

[desertpowered]

[A firm nod. Paul noticed the questioning look, but he’ll explain later.]

I like the sound of that plan. In return, I’ll tell you everything you think of to ask or want to know. I think we could help one another. We’re both in a delicate position.