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

[helmswoman]

Recognizable as themselves, but we are made up of both the good and the bad, no? One means nothing without the other.

[ As much as Yukong hates to admit it, that is the truth of life, and if it was only happiness and good times always, would there even be any purpose to it all?

Such a simple existence is hardly an existence at all. ]

... I realize that you thought you were doing the right thing, that you only wanted to remove people's pain as a kindness to them. What made you realize the error of your ways?

[voxnozzz]

[ yeah, there sure are things happening around the blanket fort... things oz won't focus on, given his energy is placed on manuela in this moment.

there's no secret shared yet, but oz pauses over what she says as if one had been voiced. slowly: ]

Secrets are the moments and thoughts your heart has deemed fit to keep locked away. How they affect you is unique to you, as Manuela, and no other.

[ strove to be myself. that is the one thing she's said that oz understands instinctually. ]

... So there is nothing to be measured, nor shame if that is the way that you lived.

[ that's all. even if it's not that serious. ]

[helmswoman]

The good news is, all of that will be returned to you once this is over and done with, so... difficult as it is now, I know you have the stubbornness to hang in there.

[ It's only a matter of a week and some change, now.

A pause, and Yukong reaches forward to rest her hand lightly on Manuela's forearm. She leans in slightly, conspiratorial. ]

If it would cheer you up, I suppose I can share one small secret with you.

[cosmoid]

[ a slight raise of his hand in toast (still lazing on the pillows), kanpai. ]

Now then. I could tell you a "secret" or we could talk of other things, not of this game.

[ unforced things. he takes a sip, realizing there's really only one attractive option here. ]

What will you do after this?

[psychs]

[ Mass hypnosis is a good way of putting it, and also implies the correct assumption that once his Palace crumpled, so too did his way over reality. In the end, no lasting damage was done, but it still doesn't excuse what he did.

He knows what better than anyone. ]

People started to become aware of the things in their life that weren't adding up, that didn't feel the same as before. Even though they had everything they wanted, they saw through the illusion, and chose to come stop me, instead.

We wound up fighting, and...I lost.

[ He doesn't sound disappointed to have done so, however. ]

1/2

[psychs]

[ .........Oh. ]

[psychs]

[ As he grips Phoenix's shoulders back: ]

I-I didn't even think about that! Maybe we can ask to borrow a stepladder? There has to be some safe, nonmagical way of getting down there...

[cosmoid]

I wonder if you'll tease me for it. [ again, mostly a joke. but he says these stupid things (and she might have started to catch on), as a cover for something else. but he's not a coward, so once more, he states clearly: ]

Kissing. And...hmm, these might have been my first dates. Divinity doesn't usually have a need for courting. [ ...now she knows he's been winging a lot of the time they've spent together. All the high school romance he's seen have been good(?) sources of inspiration for their outings. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ do you mean to tell me she has been crying into Yukong's bosom... Ori you lucky gal. ]

Okay... Yes, water would be good... I'm sorry to keep causing trouble for you, Yukong. You're always so helpful, and I haven't been able to do anything in return...

[cosmoid]

Hmm...crime doesn't mean anything to me, nor does justice in the sense you've spoken of. How do you view that?

[ he believes in good and evil for sure, but as divinity his perception is skewed. and crimes are for people who can go to jail. ]

[helmswoman]

[ Where else, let's be real...

Yukong gives a quick shake of her head. ]

Please, a friendship is not about tallying up who has done more for the other. You hardly owe me. Besides, you've done plenty of providing for us all.

[ All those breakfasts!! ]

I'll be right back, I'm just going to run to the kitchen. Unless you'd also like some air?

[psychs]

[ That is the truth of life, and it wouldn't be quite right to say he had to learn that, so much as...he had to remember it. He had to face that within himself, because in the end, he'd just been running away from his own pain, his own sorrow.

But he too can embrace happiness even in the face of loss. ]

A group of former students I had counseled, actually. They were able to reach me, even when I didn't deserve to be reached out to.

[ ...After beating his ass into the ground, as is the JRPG way. ]

[helmswoman]

... I'm relieved that they were able to get through to you.

[ Yukong speaks softly. She means it; she's glad that he wasn't already too far gone, that he was still able to come back to himself. ]

Was one of them the boy I saw, in your memory?

[alcoheal]

[He's just so easy to tease, and that makes it so fun... Even if Lin will get her pants in a bunch over "derailing" the conversation, Manuela thinks this is the perfect way to defuse. Bless their two frontrunners for having what seems to be a clear understanding of one another...given Maruki's confessions, turning to 'strategy' could have easily ratcheted tensions even higher.]

Sooner or later, whether you're into this kind of thing might become part of the deliberations. Don't forget that. [After a pause, she adds,] But if you and Dr. Maruki go, and you're a match, that's also good for you.

[alcoheal]

[Well, for once, it's time for this chatterbox to take her time to digest his words and deliver her response slowly, after a moment of letting them sit there as pure sound.]

You know, it might be because they're so rare, but your words are... rare, aren't they? [In the case of her second usage of rare, Manuela means something much different than the first, the way someone might discuss an unusual gem.]

They're really quite remarkable. You say a lot, even if it doesn't always come off that way.

[hearthwarming]

[ Driving cabs... she has no idea what that means. But she gets the feeling it's not the kind of thing someone with as dedicated and sharp a mind as Maruki does would take to well.

But as for her own plans... ]

I think... Well, I'm starting to think... that it would be nice to go about traveling again. But before I do anything like that, I'd... like to reach Juniper again, somehow. Just to tell her that I'm sorry.

[hearthwarming]

Liyue Harbor, huh... From your stories, I'm sure it's an incredible place.

[ He'll let her wipe away at her tears, though she does take the napkin from him before too long so she can do it herself. Maybe wipe her nose a lil.. ]

There are plenty of places I haven't seen in my own world, too. I haven't traveled to other planes very much. And it might be nice to sail through Wildspace again, too.

[hearthwarming]

[ This time, she is drawing her hands away from Manuela's face, if only so that she can wave them wildly, dismissively. ]

No, no, I— I didn't mean it like that. I meant it very... generally. I only know because I've been there, too. I don't think you're at your lowest, Manuela, but I wonder if you've been unhappy here...

And besides, there's absolutely no way you've failed at womanhood— what... What does that mean, anyway?

[voxnozzz]

[ ah.

he isn't one to dictate what others should focus on, but that's the direction she takes, is it... oz adjusts his position, as if the novelty of that observation weighs upon him physically. ]

It is unnecessary to praise the truth.

[ baka................ ]

[voxnozzz]

[ oz follows that flow. there's a lack of toast, though he drinks in time with uroko's sip.

this atmosphere is quite different from the bar that he visits now and again, but... ]

I will resume what I was doing.

[ not the "taking over the world, pinky" part.

the existing portion. the prevent the world from exploding portion. there is a distance, a sense that he speaks of this as if it's something that will slot into a small portion of a very long life; it's a sentiment that oz thinks uroko will understand.

or... maybe not. ]

Is it not the same for you?

[ozzz]

[He looks at her, well and truly.]

What good would that do?

[ozzz]

[His hand rests atop hers, long fingers splayed where they fall. He makes no move to grasp her hand, instead contenting himself with the barest contact before his eyes lift.]

Huh? I'm not an infant . . . and I slept earlier.

[He'll soon be sleep-deprived now that the strange magic of his role as sleeping royalty has lifted, but what little time he was able to steal for himself has done wonders for the ever present bags under his eyes, which fall again.]

[voxnozzz]

[ it's a question that comes out of nowhere, he knows. he's not certain if he'll voice the reason for it in this instance, for several reasons.

oz only listens to the answer. it's different, and yet he can find some shred of understanding within it, resting beside the parts he could never hope to comprehend. ]

I see. [ ... ] Be cautious with the burden you have traded for another.

[ "may it be lighter."

he isn't certain how to express that, specifically, so he does not. ]

[hnl]

[Normally he'd leave it at that, despite his curiosity, but since they're APPARENTLY talking about everyone's memories on blast today-]

What happened in it?

[hnl]

Oh, but I'm curious. Why do you not agree?