Day 123 [OPEN]

[bastionmods]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 123
Where: All over the Bastion
What: Obligatory "We just got more people/survived a hellish experience" mingle log!
Format: Your choice!
Warnings: Shouldn't be any?

[So the past few days in the Bastion have been very hectic and a little more than emotionally stressful for everyone. About two days have come and gone since the last very large batch of arrivals have come in to the Bastion, and thankfully since then it's been relatively quiet. It's a good time to compress, meet some new people and maybe have some good food at the distillery courtesy of Rin.]

Comments

[thirdoutofthree]

[ Viola's expression turns to a grimace. Experimenting on people?-- That's just wrong, and it sounds not entirely unlike what the leader of her country was doing to his subjects. ]

[ She shook her head. ] I dunno. How could you not fight that? You can't just sit by and hope that it all passes you over.

[ Spoken from experience, that is. ]

[croceamors]

Of course. It was especially problematic because many of us weren't... alive on our own worlds. They could send us back to death on a whim if they chose to.

[Him included- or, at least, he was on the verge of death. As far as Saix knows, there's nothing else left for him.]

[thirdoutofthree]

[ Viola sat upright suddenly. ]

They could bring you back from the dead?!

[croceamors]

Yes.

[A slight sigh.]

Towards the end of things, I understand that they put consequences to those who killed and those who died. Apparently it was bothersome for them, although it didn't seem to happen often.

yes i went there c:

[thirdoutofthree]

[ The thought of death as simply 'bothersome' rather bothered Viola. She grimaced. ]

Sounds like it was a really awful place. What a bunch of heartless jerks, thinking death is just a "bother."

fsdja kaslkd

[croceamors]

When you have the ability to bring the dead back to life, I imagine death loses its edge. If they were truly heartless, things could have been considerably worse.

couldn't resist

[thirdoutofthree]

I dunno. [ She scratched the back of her head. ]

When someone important to you dies and you grieve for them... It seems like it would be even harder to deal with if they were brought back to life and then died again.

[croceamors]

I suppose. [Saix isn't sure if he can properly related, so he simply pushes on in the conversation.] The lack of lasting death was well known to people there, however. All newcomers were eventually told about it. That just left making sure how to keep it from happening again.

[thirdoutofthree]

[ Viola just shook her head. ] I dunno how I'd ever get used to that.

[ And then shuddered. ] You don't think it'll be like that here, do you?

[croceamors]

Considering it was something that the scientists were responsible for, I doubt that is likely the case here. However, there's no way to be certain until someone dies. We're in a dangerous situation as it is, so we shouldn't waste lives carelessly.

Unless, of course, that it's someone that is truly a hindrance to our survival or actively detrimental to it. Then we could simply use them as a test subject regarding death in this place.

[thirdoutofthree]

[ That's some pretty cold logic, bro. ]

I'm sure there's no one here who's a big enough jerk to deserve that. [ She interjects, a tad hastily. ] Most everyone I've met seems pretty helpful.

[ But, in the interest of meeting him halfway. ] We could probably ask the locals if anything weird like that has happened. People coming back to life.

[croceamors]

[He's a pretty cold person.]

I suppose that's a viable tactic, although we should be careful. The locals in Vatheon were more or less brainwashed, from what I understand, and of no real help to anyone. Any secondhand information may not be the best information.

[thirdoutofthree]

I don't think it's like that here. Everyone around here works pretty hard and helps each other.

[ She thinks on it a minute. ] Besides, there isn't really anyone around that could be brainwashing people. All the governments and stuff got destroyed with the Calamity. It's just stragglers now.

[croceamors]

You'll have to pardon me if I remain a bit cautious until I find proof showing otherwise.

[Vatheon did nothing for Saix's (usually well found) paranoia, even if it did sort of help mend a friendship.]

[thirdoutofthree]

[ Viola shrugged, not particularly put off by Saix's attitude. ]

Fine by me. I won't claim that I know for sure. It's just my hope.

[croceamors]

Hope...

[That makes him fall silent for a moment.]

How do you do that?

[thirdoutofthree]

How? [ Her brows knit together to portray the most confused expression. ]

I just... do it.

[ She scratches the back of her head with one hand, trying to come up with a better explanation. But how do you explain something so intrinsic? ]

Well, no. I mean... I try to think about just the good things that could happen instead of the bad ones. [ She offers an apologetic smile, grasping to clarify her words. ]

No one really knows what's gonna happen in the future, so it's just as possible that it could be something good rather than something bad. And sometimes, if you fixate on the bad possibilities, you can accidentally make them come true. So I just try to ... hope for the best.

[croceamors]

[It's a good thing she keeps going, because it's clear from the look on Saix's face that "just doing it" isn't a good enough answer for him. He listens carefully as she does her best to explain. For once, he actually wants to understand these ridiculous and idealistic thoughts that people have instead of just dismissing them outright. It's just... difficult to do so.]

By fixating on the possible positives, aren't you opening yourself up to being taken advantage of by the things which could create those bad possibilities? Isn't keeping an eye on the worst simply being cautious?

[thirdoutofthree]

Well yeah, you shouldn't totally ignore the bad possibilities. [ She offered, trying to mitigate blatant optimism with a healthy amount of pragmatism. ]

It's important to be cautious too, but... [ She groped for an example. ] Well, it's like with people. If you're always cautious about them, they'll notice and they'll think you don't like them or you don't trust them. And if they think you don't trust them, they won't trust you either.

[ She motioned vaguely with her hands, still smiling a bit. ] So, even though it's possible that bad things might happen, I think it's better to believe that good things could happen instead.

[croceamors]

[...He's always cautious with other people, too. This is going to be a lot more difficult than he originally thought, isn't it? Saix sighs.]

I see... [Not really.] That sounds as though it would be easier for some people than others.

[thirdoutofthree]

[ You've got your work cut out for you, Saix. ]

[ That remark makes Viola laugh. ] Yeah, it's not in everybody's nature. It takes some practice, but it's worth the effort.

[croceamors]

[Yeah, he is, like, 45% sure he is fucked.]

Did it come easily for you, then?

[thirdoutofthree]

It usually does. [ She admitted. ] But sometimes things get so bad that it feels like nothing good will ever happen again.

[croceamors]

So. What then?

[thirdoutofthree]

[ She offered a shrug. ]

Well, I usually try to give myself some time away from everybody else when that happens. [ She laughed. ] It was a lot easier when I could just go back home to my ranch. You don't realize how set you are in your ways until you're living with other people again.

[ But she digresses. Now she'll try to get back on topic. ] Eventually I manage to remind myself that nothing's that hopeless that all the good in the world is gone.