feed me, mememore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sneaks) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2023-04-09 10:22 am
sneaks) wrote in bakerstreet2023-04-09 10:22 am
The whole flag factory
Sure, you may look like a total catch, but what's the catch? Maybe everything isn't what it seems.
how to play
- forget what you think you know about memes.
- forget the traditional subject line. no prefs. no character info.
- what do you put there instead? verbalize the red flag(s) that should, in a just world, come attached to your characters. be honest. be brutal.
- with this forbidden knowledge in mind, the rest of bakerstreet has to decide whether they wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole or if they'd throw caution to the wind and still go for it.
how to play
- forget what you think you know about memes.
- forget the traditional subject line. no prefs. no character info.
- what do you put there instead? verbalize the red flag(s) that should, in a just world, come attached to your characters. be honest. be brutal.
- with this forbidden knowledge in mind, the rest of bakerstreet has to decide whether they wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole or if they'd throw caution to the wind and still go for it.
no subject
An estranged sister...
[ Why did that sound familiar? Mhm. The Rin she had met in Avalon had never told her that. Of course, it would have been difficult for her to do so as they had been constantly bickering and fighting each other.
Maybe there were more reasons besides the matching wavelength as to why this girl had been chosen to be Ishtar's vessel. Well, the part about taking out her anguish on humanity didn't really fit the bill at all, but that was still a weird coincidence. ]
This is no "red flag." Only the way you deal with her may be one.
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[Pseudo-Servant. Whatever it is.]
You probably know by now mages aren't the type of people who are fond of sharing intimate details.
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[ There it is. The same arrogant behavior she's used to. ]
I believe I could make an educated guess. [And probably a really good one at that.] But I would rather hear your version of the story.
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[ And she would have a lot more to say on the matter, but- ]
You are every bit as arrogant and horrible as Ishtar. I now understand why you were chosen as her vessel and I pity your sister.
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[Tohsaka points to the sign where it says "temper/pride/arrogance".]
And sure, feel free to pity Sakura. Is that what you'd want in her position? Pity?
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[ She's just going to ignore the remark about the red in her eyes. She knows someone like that is a lot cause and will never understand true beauty. ]
But I have yet to hear what her position truly is.
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Goddess or not. I will see to it.
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[ Some form of validation... She wondered if maybe she had the right of it. Knowing her experiences were shared. She would have loved to hear someone defend her with such conviction. But Ishtar was so quick to speak of her past to whoever she met and belittle her whenever they spoke, she couldn't imagine it ever happening. ]
Perhaps I am meddling in affairs that concern me not... But she needs to hear it. See it. [Ishtar who said she'd come down to help her... But what good was it, when you veiled your good intentions behind arrogance and haughtiness?] Else all will be for naught.
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[Says the girl who would eventually let Sakura... well, that was a story for another time.]
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[ That's it? After the way she's defended her, she won't do her the kindness of letting her know she is loved and cherished? Urgh. Urgh. ]
You speak with such dedication, and this is it? [She really is the Ishtar of this age.] If you love your sister, you will tell her what you told me and save her from what terrible fate has been cast upon her. Else, do not complain when she stabs you to death multiple times.
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[Does that sound familiar?]
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So do I. But I have learnt... [A pause.] There are things worth breaking the rules for. Dying for.
[ Love. That was what it had been, hadn't it? Without those feelings for Ritsuka... Would she have broken her oath? Would she have done it for something or someone else? Maybe for someone or something else she loved just as much. Her sister, perhaps. If only they were able to speak to each other without letting their pride and arrogance get in the way. ]
You were chosen to be this age's Ishtar. And by extension... This age's Ereshkigal. [A pause.] Do not repeat our mistake.
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[She wants to... in all honesty she truly wants nothing more than to embrace Sakura and apologize for all those years spent away from her. Tohsaka was a fool. A fool to think her father was right, and a fool to think that if Rin herself wasn't happy then Sakura's burdens would be eased. Then it wouldn't be that much of a slap in the face, right?]
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[ How... How could that girl be her vessel? Ishtar's vessel? She had felt so much gratitude towards her. For having helped her become a better person. For having helped her become someone who may be worthy of love, even if her help had been incidental. What she'd seen in Avalon had not been encouraging, but this...
This was nothing more than a coward unworthy of being the new Ishtar. ]
If the world has wronged your sister, if it continues to wrong her- It is your sacred duty to be there for her.
[ For all of her flaws she... Ishtar had understood that. Ereshkigal had been the blind one. She saw that now, even if it was too late. And right now, that girl was being like her. Bound to duty above all else, with no thoughts given to the very possibility of an alternative.
She turned away, refusing to look at Rin now. Maybe because she made her think too much of Ishtar. Maybe because she felt disgusted and disappointed. Maybe because looking in a mirror hurt. ]
If you cannot do so, then give up any pretenses of saving the world. Such a burden is beyond you.
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[Pathetic.
Or perhaps Rin throws up a wall of ice to protect herself. To ward off the feelings of hurt and longing. It tears her up inside that it has to be Sakura. But it won't be the first time she's had to let herself be torn to shreds and discard her inconvenient feelings.]
1/5
[ Ereshkigal doesn't reply. For what may feel like an eternity, there is nothing but deafening silence. ]
2/5
3/5
4/5
5/5
[ She had hurt Ishtar. She had wanted for Ishtar to know all of her suffering, millennia of anguish and solitude condensed into seven blows. Doing so would alleviate her own pain. It was what she had convinced herself of. But she had been wrong. Her wounds had grown deeper and her pain worse after what she had done to Ishtar. Pain can only lead to more pain.
It was unforgivable. The sins of a monster. But she would not let a coward who planned to kill her own sister speak of it lightly. ]
When afforded a new vessel, my cold-hearted self realized the enormity of her sins. I weep and grieve for mistakes past. I have no shame admitting it. [She'd always known how wrong she had been, but not until the singularity had she found the strength to admit it.] I thought it to be your doing, I was thankful. But you proved me wrong. A monster such as yourself could never have bridged the gap between Ishtar and I.
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Ereshkigal makes to slap her, but Rin's gone toe-to-toe with Servants before. She dodges the blow, and is quick to counter attack. Reinforcing her legs after dropping down to the squat that helped her avoid Ereshkigal's palm. Rin then leaps up and reinforces her arm with mana to strike an elbow into the goddess' abdomen.]
I don't want to hear that from you! The Age of Gods is over, so stop using me as an excuse for a second life. Don't I have a right to exist outside of your self-centered view of the world? Don't take it out on me because you can't handle being wrong!
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Exist? [Such a strange choice of word. But one that was very telling.] What about living?
[ A rock exists. A bed exists. The sun, a table, the ground. But humans have something else. They do not have to content themselves with simply existing, no. They can afford to live. Ereshkigal had never lived until recently... And to hear the one whom she had to thanks for this chance at life speak like that?
It hurt. ]
A magus who does not live and content herself with existing. Focused on her higher duties. Planning the murder of her own flesh and blood. Can you not see? [She looked into her eyes.] You are the same as those Gods who lost sight of themselves and brought about an end to our age.
[ If left to Magi such as her, surely the Age of Men will end. Human Order will not survive. Perhaps those who founded Chaldea had foreseen such an outcome... Magi are not just like monsters to humans. They are like gods.
And if they fail to adapt, history shall see them erased the same way their predecessors were. ]
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[Hilarious (ironic) that a god of death, of the underworld, would chastise her on living.]
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[ The Root... What lies beyond the abyss, the final destination of souls after they have rested and found peace in the Underworld. Those Magi truly do want to become as gods. ]
I apologize for having pitied your sister earlier. [A pause.] You are the pitiable one.