driftfleet | Joint video with ~makeovers~

Who: Justice, Anders, Riona, and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Caprine
When: Backdated before they get to the planet

[The video opens to what appears to be only Riona and Anders, standing shoulder to shoulder. Someone paying attention might notice someone else behind them, purposefully hidden.

Riona and Anders look a bit excited, and quite pleased. She glances over her shoulder briefly at someone, but her head still blocks most of the shot. When she turns back, she’s grinning.]

Ladies and gentlemen of the fleet, there’s someone we’d like you to meet. Or, maybe reintroduce for some of you.

[Anders steps aside, giving a grand wave to the person behind them and finally revealing him their captive audience.

It’s an unfamiliar and very attractive man with swept back hair and piercing blue eyes. (The shade of which may be familiar to anyone who might have known Anders back when he had a glowing problem.) The man in question has a seemingly perpetual frown on his face, standing stiffly without actually moving. He’s so still that it’s almost like he’s not breathing. (And those who know him, even if they don’t recognize him, might pick up on the note of vague confusion in the furrow of his brow. He does not know why this has become such a production, but it’s past the point when it’s worth the effort to restrain his friends.)

Anders’ grin could light up a room. It’s clear the two Wardens are very pleased with themselves.]

Please give a warm welcome to Justice: new and improved. For those of you who know him, Riona and I decided it was time for a bit of a makeover; something to improve over ‘dead and decaying.’ Those of you that might not have met him yet, you should! He’s really very nice.

[And now a 100% more approachable.

Justice, for his part, glances at Anders with slightly narrowed eyes. Anders, are you trying to make friends for him? He’s pretty sure you’re trying to make friends for him. Oh well. He dips his head towards the camera, and when he speaks, it’s the same deep rumble as before.] Greetings. If you did not know what to call me prior, I was the spirit who appeared to be dead.

[Riona nods, and wryly adds:] You may remember him as looking like a walking corpse who doesn't blink. We didn't want people to be putoff by his appearance anymore. Hard to get to know people and mingle with mortals when everyone thinks you're an undead shambler.

So say hello and chat him up. Or just ogle him. [She gives a wink and a wave.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It doesn't occur to Justice that suddenly blurting out compliments like that could be considered sudden or strange. He's simply stating his observations. He only knows how to be honest.

He doesn't understand the issue here. She seems unsettled. Why would two suitable people not be suitable for each other?]

Can you not find another person more compatible, in that case? [He cocks his head slowly, brow furrowing in concern.] Have I said something wrong?

No, you've said nothing wrong. It's a very complicated thing, that's all.

[ Leilani sighs, frowning as she considers how best to explain it. It's not easy, it's not simple, and she feels herself tense, uncomfortable and uncertain as she tries to pick the best words. ]

Love is an incredible thing, and when you love someone it can take all of your heart. Sometimes, that doesn't end, but something comes between you and the person you love - and that means that you can't find someone else, because you still love someone. You simply cannot be together.

[Justice's frown etches itself deeper into his face. He suspects that this is one of those things that he just won't get, but he wants to try anyway, especially since it seems to upset Leilani.]

I do not understand. If you love someone that you cannot be with, why can you not love someone else?

[It's not like it's unfaithful to fall in love with someone else if one isn't in a committed relationship.]

[ Oh, Creators, how best to put this... ]

If there is nothing for you to enact Justice over, does that feeling go away? Does the desire to follow that ideal disappear?

Of course not. It is everything that I am.

[Although he imagines he would be terribly bored if he were forced to sit around with no opportunity to fulfill his purpose. It's bad enough that his main means of fulfilling his purpose when they're not on planets is helping make medicine with Anders.]

That is what love is like. It doesn't go away, and you cannot just choose someone else. It's present and real, just like Justice.

I do not understand. If love is eternal and all-consuming, then how do mortals have more than one loving relationship in their lifetime?

[How do widows and widowers remarry? How do people break up and then get together with someone else? How do people fall out of love?]

[ Maybe she is making this more complex than it needs to be, and she frowns. ]

Maybe it never goes away, but it can reshape and change. Emotions are complicated, and you can have different levels of feeling. You might love someone with everything you have, but they may die, and then your heart may be open for another. It is a very personal thing.

[Justice may just be more confused than when he started.]

I do not understand. Are you saying that the only way to move on from true love is for your lover to die?

In some cases. Think of love like a spectrum - you can feel a little bit of love or a lot of it. The depth of your emotion will change how long it takes for you to move on from them.

[ In her case? It might well be Solas' death. ]

No one ever said love was an easy concept.

I suppose no one did. [Justice considers Aura, left mourning her dead and desecrated husband. She and Kristoff loved each other so deeply. Kristoff had fantasized about growing old with her, and thoughts of her happiness were never far from his mind.

He hopes that Aura can move on. Kristoff feared the thought of her as an unhappy widow, and Justice hopes dearly that she finds another man who loves her just as fiercely as Kristoff did.]

All I know of it are from the memories of the corpse I possessed. It belonged to a man who was married to a woman he loved dearly.

Then you have a vague idea of how it feels?

[ Leilani wishes she can offer something a little nicer, something a little more fond, but her own experience of love... Well, it leaves something to be desired. ]

I wish I was more help.

I believe so. His love was strong enough to linger on his remains. [And it was strong enough to rub off on Justice a little. It made interacting with his widow difficult, to say the least.] I hope that his wife will move on and find someone else to make her happy. That is what Kristoff would have wanted.

[Justice shakes his head.] It is not your fault. I believe that some things may simply be beyond me.

That's a very deep love. I'm glad that you were able to recognise some of it. [ Leilani wonders if it will be the same for her, if she'll feel that deep love even after she's gone, and a part of her wonders if... Solas might, too, when the end comes.

Better not to think too hard about that. ] Or you haven't had the chance to learn yet.

It is always possible that I will simply need more time.

[He's thinking that it's more likely that he just doesn't get it, and he won't ever really get it. Some mortal things are just a little too foreign to him.]

I am grateful for the experience I had, though I grieve for Kristoff and Aura. [Kristoff was not a perfect man. He had much to atone for, had he lived. But Justice is still sorry that he's dead, and he's still sorry that Aura had to go through such pain.]

That might be the case. It took Cole a long time to adjust to the more human aspects of his existence.

[ And she had loved him, and Cole had managed, in the end. She hopes it is the same for Justice. ]

I'm sure they are glad someone mourns them. I hope they rest well, Justice.

[There is that weird reference to Compassion being human. Justice still dismisses it as imprecise language referencing Compassion's struggle to blend in with humans as Justice has struggled.]

As do I. Aura asked me to avenge her husband, and I did. It is not enough to end her grief, but at least they could have justice. [It's what he's good at. If he were a love spirit, maybe he could find her another man who would make her happy, but he doesn't think she'd want that if he could. She needs time to accept her loss.]

Sometimes, justice is enough. [ She thinks of her own means of dispensing it, being in charge, the awkwardness and the pain of having to make the choices, and she shakes her head. ]

If you want to talk about any other new concepts... You can talk to me. You know that, don't you?

I know. You have been very kind about explaining things to me. Thank you.

[Justice does recognize that there aren't many mortals who will go out of their way to explain things to him. and he values the people who do.]

Joint video with ~makeovers~

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