mk. 07 (text)

[paraclete]

Who: Kaworu Nagisa and anyone else
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: he's off on his own, for now.
When: afternoon

It's curious to call a place the way this place is called. "Solace" is a deeply personal concept to any creature, I believe. What brings you that measure of peace is going to be different from what brings it to me. So there's a lot of confidence in naming this space Solace, because how did they know whether this has what you or I are seeking?

But isn't it a little nice, too? The people who created this place must have found their solace in it themselves, and they truly believed it to be a provision of peace for the average heart. Those people have long since passed, I'm sure, now dead and having scattered past all these clouds. But what they believed to be vital, what nourished their well-being, remains here as a beacon of their hopes and endeavors. You know, it's always that way: when anyone leaves the world, their personal truths linger on, a landmark of reality. To the founders of Solace, this was solace. So it remains, whether or not you or I find our peace here.

Oh, anyway, hey, what do you think of this thing?

[attachment: nice72.jpg]

Comments

text

[interstices]

Their troubles linger, too.

It looks like something happened to its tail.

[paraclete]

To experience life is to be troubled, of course. The first thing an infant does is feel very uncomfortable. So I hear. But there's a lot more to it, too.

It waggles its tail a little when it moves. But it doesn't fall off or anything. Just twitches...

[Um,] Is it cute? Ugly? Neutral?

[interstices]

I almost thought you'd remember that.

No, look at the top edge of its tail. It looks like it's been cut or something.

[paraclete]

Being an infant? It was a mysterious time.

What do you think I should do? We're sitting next to each other right now. Both very still. What would you do?

[interstices]

Wasn't it terrible?

Wait, it's there with you? I thought it was just a picture you found.

[She's being too open. God, any longer and she'll start shuffling around asking if he ever found the not-obnoxiously-colored scarf she wrapped up and stuck by his door on his ship during Christmas.]

Talk to it.

[paraclete]

During a time like that, I wouldn't have known the difference between what was terrible and what was not.

I'm at one of the parks. On Solace. While I was sitting, it came out into the open. If I don't move at all, it stays where it is and looks around. I didn't want to frighten it, so I've been still.

[And when he asked her what she thought, he just wanted to know her opinion on the matter. But perhaps he should have expected her to command him outright...

...]

I introduced myself. I'm fairly sure it's not capable of responding, but I can say more things if you think I should.

[interstices]

You never know on these stupid planets. It might talk back. [She's being facetious. Sort of.]

So tell him I said hello. Those things like sunlight, right?

[paraclete]

Do they like it? I don't know much about them.

Hey, do you want to tell it anything else?

[robitussin]

72????

[paraclete]

I'm sorry?

Oh

The filename? I like sorting files.

[robitussin]

are there 71 others?? what

[paraclete]

Yeah, I currently have 72 images saved in the "nice" category.

:)

[robitussin]

how many other categories are there??

[paraclete]

Five others. They're straightforward and self-descriptive, just things like "good" and "special". That way, when I want to review an image I have deemed to be one of those things, I can just direct myself to the folder and find it.

Neat, right?

[robitussin]

jesus christ

you continue to amaze me in various ways

text.

[astrobleme]

[That's a lot of philosophical pondering that Shinji just... isn't... in the mood for...

(He's spent the past week and a half tucked in bed, trying not to think about anything.)

So,]

Is that a new friend?

[paraclete]

[Kaworu isn't very good with the concept of having a time and place for everything, especially where such ponderings are concerned, but... he is learning how to be at least a little more accessible.

That's why he's very happy to see a response to his photography. Talking about something is better than not talking about anything, at least in Nagisa Kaworu's opinion.]

I think, instead, more like a companion. At least for the time being. I'm sitting very still, so hopefully it won't run away.

[astrobleme]

Have you ever seen one of those before?

[They've been together for more than a year, as close as close can be, but Shinji still doesn't know all that much about Kaworu's life before meeting him...]

[paraclete]

In pictures.

[But he'd like to sound encouraging—]

I've seen mice! And rats. In different contexts. Also, birds and insects.

[astrobleme]

I remember everyone being obsessed with this movie series about a giant lizard called Godzilla. It would come and wreak havoc in Japan, but then sometimes it'd protect Japan from other bad guys. [...] I never really understood the appeal. [Angels were a hell of a lot scarier than a guy in a rubber suit, anyway.]

[paraclete]

Perhaps it's nicer, having a monster, when you can tell its story and be in control of it. And perhaps it's nicer to feel that at least a monster is there for you when you need it most, if you have nothing else. Despite everything.

Giant lizard, though, it seems neat.

[astrobleme]

[Oh no. More philosophy. It makes a startling amount of sense, of course it does, but it's also very uncomfortable to think about. Being in control...]

Maybe that's how it is. But then you'll remember sooner or later that you're not in control of anything in the real world... good and bad stuff just happens to you.

[hollystrike]

[He might not have been around the Vanquish long enough to realise what's happened with Katie, but here she is anyway.]

Solace seems to be a popular name for communities that live off the ground. I wonder if that's trying to tell us something.

[paraclete]

[He has realized, and it outright disturbs him—Kaworu is not someone who often grows disturbed, and even less frequently does he show it. But, himself having never aged past fifteen, and his already iffy perception of time... those things together mean Katie's change is unsettling, and he's less sure how to approach her now than ever.

Regardless...]

All those fairy tales about Heaven and its like, perhaps. I'm sure cultures across all these different worlds think about similar things.

[hollystrike]

[She's still the same on the inside, more or less...though her souls are more blended now. Kind of like a 90% overlapping Venn diagram.]

Traditions and superstitions do seem to be universal in some regards. Have you ever noticed that? How children will pick up the same tradition and tales without ever quite knowing where they got it from.

Of course, it could just be that whoever builds Solace cities has a phobia of the ground. I can relate.