WEEK THREE MINGLE

[potatomance]

ᯓ⭐ WEEK THREE MINGLE

Happy third week, lovebirds! Here's to hoping you're riding high on the wave of success of one whole pair being correct! Surely you must have an idea by now how to win this thing!

Probably?

The good news is that you're not going to have to find yourselves in any weird clothes this time around, except maybe that just leads to a strange sense of foreboding for a future scenario...? Who knows. You can't quite brace yourself for it this time.

But don't worry, it's not like there's nothing happening. On the contrary!

For the entirety of this week, you'll find yourself feeling... clingy. It's going to start feeling very strange if you're not leaning on someone, holding their hand, cuddling with them, sitting in their lap, stealing a kiss, or engaging in some other form of affectionate physical contact. And if it's someone you're already feeling fond of OR someone you actually can't stand, guess what?

That feeling is doubled!

You may realize this is an unusual feeling, but so what? Trying to ignore it is only going to make it feel stronger and do you really want to make yourselves feel miserable?

Shut up, masochists.

FAQ ⭐ Truth Booth Voting ⭐ Mysterious Thing ⭐ Sex Dungeon ⭐ Perfect Match Voting

Comments

[cosmoid]

[ listens. understands most of it? he's spent a non insignificant amount of time at parties full of drunken old men.

when she's done, he gently places a hand on her shoulder. if she doesn't resist, he'll redirect her away from the wall at the least. ]

Your heart is bigger than the sea, Oriphi.

[ozzz]

[Was that not enough? Perhaps she has to understand why it's a secret at all. What a pain . . . As if this entire show hasn't been difficult enough.]

It's the moon.

[voxnozzz]

[ ...

well, oz knows that he isn't included in the poetry. the rest of the explanation isn't much of an explanation at all, given "certain constraints" is such a wizard-tier vague explanation. ]

You wish for me to sing.

[ that's— what he's getting, here, if only for the question and her wish. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Ori is as attentive as she possibly can be given her current state, though the longer Zhongli goes on, the more she finds herself wanting to wind her arms around the man as she listens, gripping his shoulders.

And is she insane, or is he legitimately getting a little kinky about how he talks about what he wants to do to Lucifer...???

Anyway- what he continues to build on is such a heartwarming feeling, a painting of something so sublime that's escaped Ori for quite some time now, that freeing feeling of falling for someone for the very first time.

She'd gone into all of this thinking, maybe even hoping that nothing would really come out of it other than a wish and a few new friends. But when she hears all that Zhongli says...

...She doesn't know. All she really knows is that she is so irrevocably moved by it all, that she has no recourse other than to start weeping. It's fine. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ in between sobs: ]

Not even a little bit, Mithra?

[thefinalcontract]

[Oh, sweet Ori... When she starts crying he stops because you bet he had more to say. He wraps his arms around her in an attempt to soothe whatever surge of emotion he's caused her.]

It's all right, dear. No need for tears be they good or ill. [He truly does not know.] You too will find something akin to this... It's just a matter of timing.

[He cannot express the amount of perfect timing it takes.]

But surely as the sun rises you will find that which your heart desires. Be it the endless warmth of found friends or something more. It will one day be yours to keep and cherish.

[ozzz]

How I see the world is my choice. It's not something anyone can change.

[The world around him may change; he, however, is unchanging.]

As for these meetings . . . once we leave this place and you die, I'll forget they ever happened.

[hearthwarming]

Really... I made that too easy for you, didn't I?

[ She gazes at him through fanned lashes, amused and flattered in equal measure. Rather than kiss him, she gently reaches with a hand to brush his long, white hair away from his eyes. ]

Look again.

[ His answer will remain the same, she suspects. ]

[psychs]

[ Hm...how to explain it without overburdening the conversation with the technical jargon of cognitive psience? Even he himself had trouble understanding it at the time, but then again, he had only just awoken to his Persona. ]

Where I'm from, the will of the masses had coalesced into a...physical space in an alternate dimension, more or less. Not quite a different reality, but not quite our own. In essence, I was able to harness the willpower in my own heart to take control of that collective unconscious and enact a change of heart on those under its influence.

[ A shake of his head. ]

I know it doesn't excuse what I did, but I really only wanted to help people, in the end.

[hearthwarming]

[ She doesn't resist, no, and in fact the moment he moves her, she just leans onto him a bit. ]

Is that... [ as she lifts a hand to wipe more tears away. ] Is that a good thing?

[psychs]

[ An answer? That's a peculiar way to put it, though he did find an answer, even if it meant shattering his life's work in the process. What he thought he was, and what he actually was were two different things. ]

I found my answer only once I stopped running away from my own pain and grief. I thought that by resolving the suffering of others, I could relieve myself of my own, but that isn't how healing works. Life is messy, but there's meaning in the joy without the sorrow.

...So that was my answer. I found it in my ambition, I suppose, even if by so doing, I had to leave it behind.

[ So now he has to find a new purpose in life, a new ambition to live for. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ did we all think the drama would end...? maybe....?

Ori lets go of the blankets to turn her head at him, her expression indignant even through tears. ]

How can something like that ever change— [ a sob ] If you never let it? That's so... so cruel of you, Mithra... I'll be around for hundreds more years, you know! You're saying you can forget me even after all of that?!

[psychs]

[ Charlie...he really does love her more than anything, doesn't he? It's so heartwarming to see, and idly, Maruki wonders what it must be like, to love someone so dearly. To hold them so close to your heart, you would even face the worst parts of yourself for them.

...Hmm. ]

So she gave you the strength you needed...but even if she was your inspiration, the choice to change, to grow, to face your mistakes...could only be made by you.

[ They both deserve some credit, when others so often seek to take it away from them. ]

[psychs]

[ Sorry, Phoenix, he's betrayed you in normiedom...although he's at least normie again now?? No Personas or godlike powers anymore! ]

Ah, sorry. It can be a lot to take in, can't it?

[psychs]

[ Some might say that sounds more like a situational comedy than a video game, but imagining it wins a genuine chuckle out of him, despite his confession that put them in this situation in the first place. ]

Really? I have a hard time imagining it. Not because you don't seem capable, or anything...but more because you're tenderhearted.

[ To be fair, mercenaries aren't really a thing in 20XX Japan, so all he has to go off of what he's learned through fiction, but they tend to be rough and careless, only in it for the money. However, that doesn't sound like Ori at all. ]

Then again, maybe that's why it's a "used to be"?

[ozzz]

[Cruel?

Whether or not it's cruel, it's the way he is. There's only ever been one constant. And he would sooner die than make a false promise.

His gaze drops to the bunched up blankets around Oriphi.]

. . . I always do.

[ozzz]

Uncomfortable Secret

He's choosing in this week's ceremony.

[ozzz]

[Great tension breaker, Phoenix.]

Was it delicious?

[hnl]

[It probably won't be his biggest concern for much longer lbr.]

It's the kind of information that would have widespread implications throughout the entire world, shaking the very foundations of science, cultural significance, and even religion...

[He smiles and gives a little shrug.]

You understand, then, why such matters are kept secret until they're better understood.

[hnl]

[we will pretend the sleepover became a dumpster fire at some point after this convo--]

Maruki and Phoenix are a pair that's being thrown around as consideration. Something about making each other better, or at least less shy.

[He wouldn't know anything about that, though.]

You and Manuela might have a fair shot, too.

[hnl]

[Is that the cross-examination track playing somewhere in the background...

Also rip the pizza bagels.]

Of course, Mr. Wright. Are you not something of a paternal figure yourself? Then you'd understand that treating children with care also means encouraging them out of their comfort zones for the sake of their own development and growth. There are trials and tribulations involved in this years-long journey. Do you honestly think there won't be a single bad day among the good? Do you think one snippet of a memory is representative of a father's entire relationship with his kids?

[hnl]

[Well, it's a good thing that this is a blanket fort!! Brenner is indeed thrown to the ground like he's little more than refuse, but his fall is broken by all the cozy blankets and pillows.

In which case, he's just left looking up at her depart in a whorl of breeze as his lungs find air again, his mind not quite registering what's happened until she's long departed.

As a... bird? Crane?? What the fuck.]

[bewrightback]

[What a poser normie!!]

Y-yeah. It, it sure came out of left field there! [A nervous chuckle.] So you were actually able to do that? How is that even possible?

[bewrightback]

Um, far from it? It's not exactly flavored or anything. I was chewing on glass and a chain... I guess I should be grateful that none of the poison in the bottle was left!

[ozzz]

If it wasn't good, why did you eat it?