video; optional action

[nulliverse]

Who: Celeste Blackwell and the fleet
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Can be found sulking around the SS Golden kitchen
When: Feb 6, evening

[The last time this girl appeared on the network, she was in quite a hot rage, so it might be odd to see her looking quiet and pensive now. Sad, despite a slight smile, to those who really look closely.]

I've been away for awhile - don't ask, I don't quite understand it myself - but apparently I've come back just in time for Valentine's Day to be around the corner. And normally I'd be the last person to bring up something like this, but...

[But what? She doesn't say, just asks her question.]

... have you ever been in love? What were they like? What really made you think "My god, this is the one" when there are so many other people out there who might've been just as good? And I mean, if you're in love right now and you still want to answer, it needn't be past tense. I suppose - I just don't quite understand this either, I never have, but that doesn't stop it from happening.

[She appears to be at a loss for a moment, before shaking her head and chuckling to herself.]

My mates would laugh themselves sick if they could hear me now.

[And that's all.]

Comments

[Private]

[flameandpassion]

[ rei tries to ignore valentine's day and white day since nathaniel left -- and it's been such a long time since she's seen him, that she should be over it by now. but it's hard to forget someone who you deeply loved that much, and someone who changed your perspective so sharply. ]

He was brilliant. A politician, and amazingly smart. He could probably sell you your own soul for a nickel if you'd let him, but he was passionate, and wanted to do what was right. He never stopped working to make the world we were in better, and he was always quick to defend me even though I could take care of myself.

[ she hasn't talked about nathaniel in so long, but this girl seems to need the comfort. ]

I haven't seen him in years. He's home, now.

[Private]

[nulliverse]

[Getting such an open, frank response right off the bat is a bit of a surprise to her. But she respects the gesture, listening with her head slightly cocked, nodding here and there.]

The world you were in... does that mean that his home isn't your home? [It's asked as gently as possible.] Everyone here seems to have hopped worlds at least once or twice, not just me. That's why the wording caught my attention.

[video]

[passingthrough]

[It would be just her luck to show up here before Valentine's Day. Little reminders of people left behind.]

If you're expecting past tense shouldn't you be more focused on why it ended than why it felt real at the time?

[video]

[nulliverse]

[That's the kind of statement she'd often take as a challenge, but this time she considers it for a second instead, and her answer is mild.]

Maybe. I've only ever had one that never really started, and one that - [A little furrow between her brow, lips pressed together until she continues.] - isn't over. Not yet. Breakups are a whole new and exciting world I've yet to explore.

action;

[firstrebel]

[ Hera wanders into the kitchen just as Celeste is making her broadcast. It's an interesting question, and she busies herself with some vaguely tea-like thing as she considers it.

Why she's considering it at all - who knows? She's never really done so before. ]

Yes. And, I think I started to fall for him when I realized how much he cares for other people, despite how hard he sometimes tries not to.

action;

[nulliverse]

[She's surprised when Hera opens up, but it's a welcome surprise. Celeste's eyes follow her work while she talks rather than looking at her directly.]

That's very appealing. The heart big enough to hold the world. And not just because it's sweet, either - I took a very singular, selfish pleasure in being special to him when he had such a huge capacity for love. Just that much more important.

[And it's drawn out her own confession as well, one that surprises her even more than what Hera said. It's true, though, and not surprising because it isn't in keeping with her character, only because it hadn't occurred to her.]

[ video ]

[precedented]

[ Hm. He forgot that people tend to fall in love with only one person and that was it. His sister would always have that place in his heart, a place no one can tread, but his heart was not so small that it could not accommodate many others.

What is the point of love if it stops at one? ]

I have, many times, with many people. I loved them all.

[ video ]

[nulliverse]

[It's so, so much like what Caleb would say that she hitches in a breath, pauses for a moment before answering.]

You sounded just like him when you said that. The words, I mean. I think he loved everyone he met in some way. [Catching tears that are about to fall with two sharp swipes of her hand, one under each eye, she tries to find the smile with which she started this.] I - god, I probably shouldn't have asked any of this at all.

video

[bryces_pup]

[With everything that's been going on with Riona, with her husband showing up but not knowing her and not really being able to talk about it but needing to, this post calls out to her. And this woman is asking for a reason, she suspects. Curiosity or comfort, who knows. She thinks on it for a long time before she answers, her voice soft.]

I confess that I don't know what this Valentine's Day is, but as to your query...

[She smiles, her expression distant as she finds the words.]

I married the man I love. We went through a lot together, and he was a bright spot in my life when everything seemed dark. He taught me how to laugh again, and helped me be more myself. I felt a connection with him very quickly and it's been there ever since. He loves me for who I am and not for what I am. When I had nothing he gave me everything. He can be unsure of himself and awkward, but he's one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. And one of the strongest, even if he does not always believe it.

That and we both have the same terrible sense of humor.

video, 1/2

[nulliverse]

Valentine's Day is many things to many people. A cynical cash grab targeting soppy romantics and couples who can't work out how to show affection without a holiday especially for it, a day to terrorize singletons with the reminder that they're still single and all these other people aren't, a day to rub your relationship in everyone's faces, the day before a ton of unsold chocolate gets marked down to half price...

video, 2/2

[nulliverse]

[Wait, that's taken her right off course. It was satisfying, but the story is much more what this is about, and she listens raptly until the last bit makes her laugh aloud. It's a relief to laugh through the pang in her chest.]

That is vital, I think. When someone can be ridiculous in the exact same way you can, and you feed off each other until anyone who walked in would think you were both complete nutters... [Her smile fades to something softer, but not quite so sad.] ... it's like your own world the two of you can escape to, laughing at the same things.

[video]

[imahologram]

Is Valentine's Day some kind of romantic holiday where you're from?

["Valentine's Day" means about as much to Leia as "Life Day" might to Celeste. But the questions she asks are tantalizing ones, and Leia's willing to indulge today.]

It happened over a while. Years, when you come right down to it. I wasn't looking for anything like that, and he was...a cad, really. A prickly, sarcastic cad. [A wry little smile.] He still is sometimes--but he has a good heart in there.

There are plenty of other people out there, but they haven't seen the things we have. They don't know me like he does. And...well, that matters.

What about you?

[video]

[nulliverse]

Well - all holidays are so commercial where I'm from that they can be rather hard to put much stock in at the best of times. But yes, romance is the idea.

[Somehow, this is her favourite story yet. A prickly, sarcastic cad. She loves it, the honesty and the acknowledgement of flaws and the fact that time and shared experience made it real. Not just a magical feeling. This is what she'd want to see in romantic movies, what would finally get her watching them.]

That's brilliant. It honestly is. I don't even like most love stories, which is why it's so silly for me to be asking this, but that's the sort I can get behind. As for me, I've been in love twice - the first was called "some Greek tragedy shit" by a mate of mine when I explained it all to him, so that gives you an idea of how it went, and the second...

[It's the sticky one. The one that prompted her to ask about others.]

... we knew we were on a time limit. It just seemed too good to throw away because of that, or to let pass without trying. I will see him again, someday, but all I can do in the meantime is wait and remember.

[voice]

[falconing]

[ and suddenly, the most indignant of tones, because han solo is definitely not watching this post out of morbid curiosity to see whether or not leia would response, nah: ]

I am not a cad.

[ SORRY WERE YOU LADIES HAVING A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION ]

text.

[astrobleme]

[This is the first network post that has made Shinji sit up and actually pay attention. With everything going on, he hasn't had time to think about love and whatever else. He's barely had time to think, period. Now he's thinking about it. He frowns at the screen. Hesitantly, he types.]

I don't think it's possible to pinpoint any one thing. Or even a handful of things. It's just everything all at once. That's what love is. [This is too embarrassing, so he adds,] At least that's what I've heard other people say.

text.

[nulliverse]

[Whatever reason this person has for using text, she feels like respecting it, and switches accordingly even though she's already shown her face.]

i think i can see both sides
i know exactly when i realised it and why
but i could hardly do a flow chart of reasons if someone asked for evidence
and im fairly sure id been in love for a long time before it actually struck me
its amazing how stupid you can be when you dont want to see something so obvious

so maybe youre right
everything all at once

[video]

[amicably_absent]

[Honestly, getting Glitch to sit still long enough to talk is rare, but he seems to be folded up in some small space where he feels safe and there's barely enough light to make the zip on his scalp gleam.]

I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I might just not remember, but I think I'd know, even if I didn't remember, if I'd ever really, truly been in love.

[video]

[nulliverse]

Do you forget a lot of things, big things like that?

[The idea hits her deep down for some reason she's not letting on, much deeper than really makes sense when she's talking to a stranger. But she keeps her outer appearance as placid as possible.]

video.

[paraclete]

[This is a topic Kaworu's been thinking about for lifetimes. He's sat with his loved one and thought about it. He's pondered it while alone in the night. Love means a great deal to Kaworu Nagisa, and he thinks it's a joy to share.]

I was in love before I understood anything about it. I thought this is the one before I knew what 'the one' meant, or what that person was supposed to complete. I didn't even know that I was missing something in the first place.

But there's no singular quality that results in love like that. It's the sum of a person. It's everything that person has ever been, and everything they have the potential to be. I know that if, after this, I lived an innumerable measure of lives, I would still gravitate to that person. I know that if, somewhere, I were to exist without that person, I would be barren. Love is fate. Love is guidance.

[All his countenance is soft, hushed, but practically aglow with a feeling of goodness. He must be happy to be in love.]

video.

[nulliverse]

Good lord. I've heard of hopeless romantics, but I think you've set a brand new bar.

[Yes, she knows she shouldn't be flippant in the face of such a speech, but it's - so huge. It's both heights and depths that she'd never allow herself to reach. Even clinging to the belief that her love can find her across universes, she still can't imagine dedicating herself to him the way this bloke is talking about.

It scares her. So her natural response is to revert back to flippancy.]

[ Video ]

[axeboyfriend]

Does it count if you'd never do anything about it?

[ It's a personal question, and one he'd normally not be inclined to answering. But the girl seems pensive, and he can't help but talk to her a little. ]

[ Video ]

[nulliverse]

[The bluntness of that question makes her grin with wry understanding. She's not someone who'll hurl encouragement at him, badger him into believing in the all-encompassing power of love and going for it anyway. She's been there.]

I couldn't do anything about my first love. For about a million reasons, he was literally the worst possible person for my heart to latch onto in every way and yet there it was. I still loved him.

[So yes. It counts.]

text

[interstices]

[Succinct is as succinct does.]

I don't know if I've felt it or not.

text

[nulliverse]

[And again, she makes the switch to follow this person. It feels respectful, somehow, since she knows damn well she's prying; it's not the sort of thing she'd answer if someone else had asked it, and the number of answers she is getting keeps surprising her.]

its hard to know sometimes
you could just want something from someone so badly that you assume it must be love
or you could care for them in another way and get your wires crossed
the whole things far too complicated at times

[video]

[takeabow]

[ Nova appears on the screen, thoughtful and serious ]

I'm dating someone right now.

[video]

[nulliverse]

[That's a careful answer. She keeps her own response light, since this is a potential minefield of misunderstandings:]

Is it a more casual thing, then, just a lark? There's a lot to be said for that sort of dating, or so I've heard - I leapt right into the deep end with both feet, but I've always been horrible at doing anything halfway.

video;

[geonomy]

[And having seen this after he and his boyfriend just arranged a date for the day, Clay can't help feeling that giddy sensation that comes with being in love. He grins; it's easy to answer this.]

Two times! Once when I was young, like sixteen, and felt everything cosmically.

But I'm in love right now too.

video;

[nulliverse]

[Alright, that makes her laugh. She wants to be bitter and jealous and all manner of horrible things at the explosion of excited, giddy, obviously very current love that's just gone off in her face, but she can't manage it. The hollow pit of loneliness in her gut does open up just a bit more, yes, but she can't attack him for it.

Maybe, along with everything else, Caleb's made her a better person as well. Will wonders never cease.]

You should know that announcing it like that is completely redundant with that smile on your face. But good on you, and all that - I don't know if you ever heard that song about finding love in hopeless places, but there's something to be said for it.

video »

[mucked]

I don't expect there's only one person for everyone -- but sometimes you meet an individual who simply has no comparison. Their spirit stands a full head and shoulders above the rest.

[ and that might be all she's willing to divulge. after all, he is part of the fleet. and might chance upon such a discussion. best to keep it brief and vague. anyone who knows her at all will understand precisely the subject of such a revelation.

video »

[nulliverse]

[After the last response she got, this one brings her crashing right back down to earth - so to speak, given their surroundings.]

Oh lord, yes, I'm not the sort to go on about soulmates and finding the other half that makes you whole. You ought to be whole in the first place, if you can manage it, because there isn't much in any world that lasts forever and you've still got to carry on afterward.

[It's the sort of strident, cocky speech she could make effortlessly once, arrogantly placing herself above all the messy confusion and hurt of love because she rejected it even when it wanted to get at her; now it sounds a bit plaintive, as if she only hopes she can live up to any of what she's said rather than believing it.]

You're right, though. Some people - they'll always stand out.

[goodjob]

[It takes her along time to figure out if she wants to answer.]

It feels like getting kicked in the face.

[nulliverse]

[After a slight, startled pause, she laughs so long and loud that it nearly edges on hysterical.]

It does, doesn't it? It fucking does. You don't know how glad I am to have someone say that, all this sentimentality is so bloody new to me that I hardly know who I am anymore. Let's talk about the really, really horrible parts of love for awhile, shall we?

video;

[mordedura]

[Santanico has never been in love really. Men have tried to own her, posses her, dress it up as love, but the real thing? She's not sure she's capable of it. Maybe a long time ago she could have been....But things have changed.]

I don't think I have. There was a man who claimed to love me, but he worshiped me.

[Carlos wanted to own her as much as Malvado did, just in a very different way.]

That's very different.

video;

[nulliverse]

I'd imagine that's about as different as any two things could be, really.

[She knew Caleb loved her when he saw her for who she was, on a level deeper than even she was willing to accept, she'd spent so long crafting and wearing masks. He cut through everything and found her very core, and that was what he loved.

Worshiping, that's just putting someone on a pedestal. Seeing what you need in and from them. Celeste's only had a small taste of fame for comparison, but from that alone, she has a feeling it's nothing she'd ever want.]

It all sounds very glamorous, being worshiped, if you don't think about it too carefully. It's probably just lonely, isn't it?

VIDEO

[sandhate]

[ He could talk about how he tell in love with Padme for ages and how much he still loves her, even when being together hurts, sometimes. But there's just this. ]

I fell in love with the same person, over and over again. I couldn't help myself. I saw her in my dreams, I started to measured time by how much of it I had it with her, and when she smiled at me, it was like I could finally breathe. I'd like to think she had it as much as I did, or we wouldn't have gotten married.

She's here, right now. She'll either love me more or hate me for telling people this but it feels good to just say it.

VIDEO

[nulliverse]

[Celeste looks like she's got no idea what to say for a very long time. He's not the first to wax poetic about love - this question rather leaves the floor open for that - but that is probably the most openly romantic that a man has gotten so far, and she's surprised at the way it leaves her somewhat breathless.]

Mate, I've got a fairly low tolerance for what most people call romance, and I would swoon if my boyfriend made a public declaration like that. Actually, literally swoon, so that someone had to catch me or I'd land on my arse. I think you're safe.