10th Partridge [(anonymous?) Voice/Action]

[pearheaded]

[One thing that's always a bad idea to do: give a tree man something that is typically fine for humans.Case in point, just about anything they stuck him with during his stay with the Malnosso. Yeah, it's one thing to have to deal with cells—hello, unpleasant memories—but dealing with drug poisoning, too? This day couldn't get any more hideous for him.

Well, except he appears to have... tiny branches crawling off his wings and around his back. Complete with little withery leaves (no worries, Ian, they'll go away in a few days).

He's a little too out of it at first to notice them, but about an hour into his fever he finds them. Along with orange tips on his otherwise green hair. Orange, and coarse like straw. The best thing to do, he decides? Curl up into a ball and not talk to anyone for a week. It'll go away, he knows. Besides, he's too busy revisiting his past and being confused to get proper help.

In the middle of his hazy, poison fever, he speaks up on the journal. The little box that would otherwise show his face is masked.]

... I was thinking. You go through life looking for nothing but acceptance and to be like any other person. But then something horrible happens, and you're not sure if it's ever possible—if maybe, just maybe, you're stuck being on the outskirts of everything you wanna be... Maybe someone you thought you could trust turns their back on ya'... or–or maybe you think people can be good, and you suddenly get caught against people who just seem too awful to even exist.

[Malnosso, you're the reasons for this, aren't ya'? Experimenting and tossing people like garbage... like people he's met before.]

How... how do y'cope with that? [a deep, unsure breath; he's busy laying on his back with his palm over the screen]

How do you turn it into something good? Do you keep trying to believe that good things come out of all the things that happen to you...?

[You can actually bump into him while he's sulking in the forest, but he's a hot mess at the moment. Forgive 'em. :|]

Comments

[written]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[after promising Jack she'd lay low she's not speaking into the journal...but she can write]

I don't know that it's about believing good comes out of everything. But [there's a pause as she thinks out her response before writing] it's believing that there's more potential for good than there is for the rest.

[he sounds terrible, though, so now is not the time for "believe in the good of humanity"] It doesn't make the bad okay, though.

Are you alright?

Re: [written]

[pearheaded]

... i dont know

[not sure which thing he's addressing there, really, but he continues in a shaky handwriting]

do you relly think theres mor good than the rest?

the bad?

[150 years... He's not sure which side is winning yet, the good or the bad. They're pretty damn tied up, as far as he knows.]

[voice]

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

You don't linger on the bad things, and focus on the good. You keep going, hoping that some day those that do wrong see the error of their ways.

Re: [voice]

[pearheaded]

[Oh so hesitantly, in a low voice:]

... Should you keep going, if one of the error of their ways is you...?

[Written]

[wise_maiden]

Everything is a process. Life... experiences. Everyone takes a different approach to it... and sometimes it might seem easier to give in to that hopelessness. Even if you can't turn the bad experiences into good ones, there's still... learning from them, and moving on.

Re: [Written]

[pearheaded]

it

[A pause.]

doesnt feel like anyone else is learning but me

[Voice]

[mikangirl.livejournal.com]

[...this resonates. A lot. So her voice is very soft when she responds.]

Good things don't always happen as a result of the bad stuff. It's just the way life is.

What matters is not letting the bad stuff define who you are.

Re: [Voice]

[pearheaded]

[... That voice is very relaxing. It reminds him of Henrietta.

Give him a moment, he's a little weepy at the thought. HE'S A BIG BABY OKAY.]

Not letting it define who you are...

But can't--can't some of the bad stuff make you who you are?

[savethelastchip.livejournal.com]

[ One of the harder things for explaining, Ian. but optimism is one of his stronger suits, still, so he couldn't go without trying as much. ]

Everything that happens, it isn't the only thing that'll ever happen. Some of the worst things I've gone through are things I wouldn't be the same without; even though it's really hard, I have to be able to remember that. And... I believe that no matter how many people can be cruel, there are always really good people out there, too. [ He has confidence in such things. All of his friends qualify to that rule. ]

[pearheaded]

[He listens very, very carefully. After a shaking little breath, he replies] I've always considered the bad things important to me, even if I woulda' changed them if I could.

[He shifts in the grass silently.]

The good people. How... do y'know if they're, y'know. Good?

How do y'know if you should trust them with everything?

[He's always believed in people's word. There are people back home he truly believes in. But... there are also people he never should have put his faith into.]

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert recognizes Ian's voice, and this question strikes a chord in him. He has always had trouble finding acceptance himself, and... well, something bad happened to him. But it was his own fault in that case.]

...

I... I think that one would have to... consider the overall picture. Look at the prevailing trends and ratios.

... Not everything, I would think, leads to something good... b-but, but perhaps there is a t-trend overall for positivity. At least... at least in some senses.

... One bad person or event does not invalidate the entirety of them.

Re: [Voice]

[pearheaded]

[Likewise, he knows who you are without looking.]

Unfortunately... It's a little more than one event or bad person.

[Written]

[antlioncyclone.livejournal.com]

Experiencing bad things doesn't mean that the good things never happened. And it works the other way, too - good things don't cancel out bad things.

You have to take everything that you know, figure out what you want, and take the path that leads you to it. Otherwise you're just wandering around without getting anywhere.

Re: [Written]

[pearheaded]

[Heh, but wandering around without getting anywhere is his job in life, you know.]

you have a goal? instead of wandering i mean...

[voice]

[magicwarding.livejournal.com]

[Roji actually knows this feeling all too well. He decides to address the subject of "people" first. His voice is very calm as he speaks.]

When it comes to people, I try to consider their means for acting so horribly. Maybe they are so conflicted that they don't realize they're in the wrong. Maybe they're doing the horrible things for a good cause, but going about it in a very wrong way.

[He has to do this all the time, battling ghosts (and people) who may seem horrible at first...]

I think everyone can realize their wrongdoings and take responsibility for what they have done. I feel like that is a big step toward making things right again. [And this applies to Roji himself, of course.] Sometimes...it just takes others a lot longer to do that.

Re: [voice]

[pearheaded]

... Does it normally take people hundreds of years to see what they've done wrong?

[seriously, humans are really bad at lagging on things.]

[blessingone]

[Man, she hates doing written responses, but it's a topic she really doesn't want to talk about with a stranger. At the same time, this sounds way too close to what she's gone through to not reply. She has plenty of time to think on it as she carefully ensures that the camera is obscured and very slowly prints to try to minimize the signs of her normal writing. The disguised writing isn't perfect -- for one, there's still more loops and curls than normal printing -- but she hopes it will make it less likely for her to be recognized by people she hasn't talked to about this.]

Sometimes, the only good that comes out of it is when it is done.

[pearheaded]

[More writing! Can't a guy with an awful fever have a moment without straining his eyes? ;;

...

But still, he replies in the usual shaky handwriting (from bad penmanship and fever combined, more than likely.]

thats really sad, isnt it?

[Makes me kinda' weepy, even. ;u;]

its hard to look forward to the end of it when it never really ends
things like to stick with you years later, it feels like...

[Private place-holdery type situation]

[goldenglasses]

Acceptance is always possible. [He hopes.] It's just a slow process sometimes as we all learn how to get along with each other.

Re: [Private]

[pearheaded]

Always possible...?

[He said that himself, quite a few years back. But...]

Every time I get close to that, it seems to float further away...

[Action]

[coldsnaps]

[and there's someone else in the forest, wandering around until he sees Ian in a rather sorry state. Of course, seeing as he's stupidly nice, his first reaction is to go on by and check.]

...Are you alright?

Re: [Action]

[pearheaded]

[A drawn out groan, before he flips over to expose a backful of branches poking out from under a plain white shirt. He's a little too preoccupied with himself to keep a conversation, yanno.]

[voice]

[boxedoff.livejournal.com]

[This hits too close to home for him to not answer. And he can recognize Ian's voice.

...All he really has to offer however, is the resignation of a 12-year old who has had to go through a lot with no real end in sight.]

You get used to it, I guess.

Re: [voice]

[pearheaded]

But is that all we can really do? Just... get used to it?

[ishisfriend.livejournal.com]

[Leo hasn't spoken to many people despite being in Luceti for close to three months, so he recognises Ian's voice. But hell, not that that matters. That's why he asks one simple question:]

Why?

[pearheaded]

[Because I was just kidnapped and exposed to awful people for a week and now I'm pretty shitty in terms of thought process and health.]

I guess I just got curious.