>>@ENTERTHEDRAGON | @ALL

[ryuji]

Anyone else getting a massive wave of culture shock? It's totally kicking my ass right now. I got a nice little gig set up here above a bar, but the catch is I gotta work. But yeah, people are coming and going like crazy around here. Weird outfits, weird hairstyles. Seeing everyone go crazy about freedom is pretty freakin' cool. Nobody needs some stuffy old dude sittin' in a golden high chair sucking his royal thumb and giving out orders all the time.

Not gonna lie, I've seen some pretty big palaces before, but I totally wanna raid the hell out of Versailles.

So anyway, is it like this all the time when you guys get a new mission? I've never been to Paris before, but I kinda know what it looks like from pictures back in my own time? Universe? Good luck getting your head around that shit, it's way too deep for me. I was all excited to see the Eiffel Tower, but apparently it's not gonna exist for like... a hundred years.

Comments

[ryuji]

We don't normally go and take jobs like this, so if you do end up getting a trace in the app, I gotta ask you to come clean about everything and tell me wassup.

Goin' in there is really weird, and you never know what you're gonna face. Not knowing anything about it is kinda like sending troops off into a blind battle.

But, it's cool. We got time. I definitely wanna help you out.

[lonelywar]

[The reply is... takes a bit longer to respond. He makes a fair argument, particularly since this is a favor he is offering to do him, but Ashitaka hasn't mentioned this topic to anyone here yet. It's not necessarily taboo. He had bared the mark to Eboshi, and San had witnessed its corrupting power on him as well.

He isn't sure why he'd wanted to hide it. Maybe because, here, its looming threat on his life wasn't nearly as pressing of an issue. He could almost pretend it wasn't happening - if not for the occasional reactions from the mark itself.

But no. He couldn't ignore it. It was his burden to bear.]

I will tell you whatever you want to know.

I ask this of you because I bear a curse. I am not sure if I can remove it here. I wonder if what you are able to do could affect it.

[ryuji]

[Ryuji's not bothered by the delay in response. He fills the time up with other small, menial tasks at the bar he's working at. It's simple, repetitive, and not very difficult work to do, so when the crowds die down, he makes sure to check later that night and read (re-read) Ashitaka's message to him.]

You're cursed?

[Oh, shit.

That brings on all sorts of questions.

Like.

What if he is in the Metaverse? What if it spreads to other parts of it? He doesn't care too much for the collective cognition of the world since it's kind of... meh, take it or leave it, but the prospect of meeting Ashitaka in the Metaverse with it? What if he's not strong enough to actually do something about it?

He idly grabs his skull mask and starts to look at it.

He has to be strong.]

Well, no matter what the hell it is, I'll steal it. How the heck did you get cursed to begin with?

[lonelywar]

Yes.

[He hadn't known such a thing was even possible before it happened to him, and if the old wise woman had needed to consult the bones, surely she had never seen anything of its like in her life as well. But the war humans had declared upon the gods was new, as was its echoes reaching out as far as the hidden Emishi village Ashitaka once belonged to.]

COST has provided me with something that keeps it at bay, so if it is too dangerous for you, do not risk yourself.

[But, ah, yeah. That's a bit of a story. So Ashitaka, without a hint of arrogance, simply sends:]

I killed a god.

It had once been a god of the forest, corrupted into a rampaging demon by a ball of lead lodged within its body. It threatened my village, and so I killed it. In its anger, it cursed me before it died.

[ryuji]

Yeah. Gods are kinda assholes.

[lonelywar]

[Not the language he would've used, but...]

Some that I have met certainly are difficult to deal with.

[The Great Forest Spirit had brought him back to life, but not removed his curse? And Moro had threatened to kill him if he came back to their clan's den... definitely a mixed bag.

But, wait, hold on -]

You have had dealings with gods also?

[Others he had spoken to here had only talked of them in the abstract, thinking Ashitaka strange when he talked frankly of dealing with them in earnest.]

ashitaka you look like a pumpkin

[ryuji]

[Sorry, he's a vulgar boy.]

Yeah. One that seriously deserved a kick in the balls.

He was toying with the world and wanted to control all of humanity's desires.

[Said so casually. Him and Ashitaka will have to compare notes one day.]

don't judge him for his fashion...

[lonelywar]

Most of the gods I encountered would be content to rule over their own lands, should they not have been interfered with.

From what you have described of this god, it sounds like it deserved such treatment.

[Again, coarser language and methods than Ashitaka would use, but... he respects Ryuji for it, in a way.]

Is such malevolence from gods typical in your world?

sorry ryuji doesn't understand high couture

[ryuji]

There was this holy grail thingy that started to eat up all the individuality of Tokyo. It's kinda... really fucked up to explain, I dunno how to describe it.

Nah, I don't think so. Most people aren't deeply spiritual now a days anyway. We didn't even know we were messin' around with one until the very end. We were just trying to change shitty adults and stop them from hurting other people.

[lonelywar]

[He doesn't even have the cultural wherewithal to understand what a holy grail might've been in a normal context. Regardless of what it was, it certainly stood to be an even greater threat for life than anything Ashitaka had seen from the gods of the forest and the mountains. A humbling thought.]

The gods I have encountered did not have such a power over man. They merely waged war with those that trespassed too far into their lands, though it seemed to be a losing battle.

Those men that I have seen have also lost their awe and respect of the gods.
I can see how they might progress to a time where they had forgotten them.

[The times had been changing. Ashitaka vaguely remembered, through a haze of pain, the arguments of the wolf and boar clans. That with the diminishing power of the gods, as humans invaded and stole their land, that the gods-blessed creatures were growing small and dumb as their common counterparts. And yet it was a riddle he hadn't had the chance to solve, an open wound left in his own personal path. With no ability to do anything about it now, he can do little more than try not to dwell upon it.]

[ryuji]

You think that like... if a god's not believed in, then they stop existing? I don't know how this stuff works, but... dude, in the future all of Japan is pretty much built up.

The cities have these giant skyscrapers and there are some old temples, but... if the gods you're speakin' about got pissy over people just walking onto their land, then they'd be freakin' bawling their eyes out at seeing where we are now.

Er... shit. Sorry- skyscrapers are really, really tall buildings. We've got tons of them.

Maybe only the really strong ones survived. And maybe they're super pissed off now.

[lonelywar]

The gods are a part of nature, some as old as the forests and the mountains themselves, so I am not sure belief is a part of it. But the gods I am aware of might not be the same that you are.

If the land was claimed from them, I am not sure they would survive in the same capacity. My curse is proof that man has developed the power to poison and kill them. If things truly progressed to the world you described, I fear it would be a world those gods of the forest would no longer be able to inhabit, for their power comes from it.

[It was what the boars had been afraid of, what Noro had seemed resigned to, as the pellet of iron slowly killed her from within, just as it had Nago.

Ashitaka was human, but he understood the plight of the gods, watching the world twist and churn into one that no longer seemed to have a place for them. He could feel a piece of Nago's hatred at it seethe within him as well, burned into the mark branded across his body.]

[ryuji]

[It's not just gods that saw the world change dramatically- every generation had undergone something similar, as society evolved and donned off more and more of their traditional past selves. But then again, humanity is inspired by the divine, right?

Ryuji's heart feels heavier and heavier when he talks to Ashitaka. Usually when he's talking to someone serious, like Yusuke, or dealing with something that's rather tough to chew on, he finds his thoughts drifting away and he has to remember to keep himself focused or else he's going to lose grasp of what's going on. Whoever this guy is, though, Ryuji just wants to sit with. Listen to his stories. And maybe he won't have the patience for it in the end, but he never thought of Japan as anything mysterious or vague. A trip to the forest in his time was mostly for camping. No poisons, no wars, no curses or gods.

He's pretty quick with his reply back to Ashitaka, and as always, he's earnest and straight forward.]

You're a really cool guy.

Ah, sorry! I know that's like, way off track, but I keep sittin' here wantin' to say it, so I figured I'd get it off my chest before I forget it.

Anyway, if the land is gone and the gods are gone... uh, how are you cursed? Shouldn't that shit have like, some sort of source that's keepin' it in you?

I CANNOT GET OVER HOW CUTE HE IS

[lonelywar]

[Ashitaka wasn't used to speaking to someone in this manner. Were he sitting with Ryuji in person, subject to tone of voice and body language, he might've altered how he carried through the conversation somewhat. He was a serious young man, sometimes to the point of seeming dour to others, and it was not necessarily a fate he wished to force upon people. Especially since Ryuji, when examining broad strokes, seems like a much... sunnier person than Ashitaka comprehended. He certainly seems to speak with a levity that he feels unaccustomed to.

His own response is a little slower. Another thing he's unaccustomed to: people speaking so openly about how they feel about others?? Maybe his society was just a little more repressed than that...]

Thank you. I have enjoyed speaking with you as well.

[IF IT SEEMS A LITTLE AWKWARD, it's because it is. Ashitaka didn't really have an issue telling San she was beautiful as she held his sword to his throat, but this seemed a little more unwieldy (that, and he was dying from blood loss at the time, so, ya know).]

They are not yet completely gone, but I am not sure that would lift the curse if it were the case. The god that gave me this mark is long since dead, but an echo of his pain and hatred remains impressed upon me until I can discover a way to lift it.

I was told to search for the corruption's cause and to "see with eyes unclouded by hate" as my only means of finding a cure.
[Brief pause . . .] It has not been very clear advice.

[Especially when the mark itself seethes with hatred with every breath he takes, tempting him to do the same. It was not as pressing or painful here, but it was still a reminder.]

IT'LL WEAR OFF trust me :')

[ryuji]

[If anything, he's kind of used to this sort of thing- being the boke to the straight man, if only for the sake of trying to keep the mood somewhat lighter, to make sure that seriousness doesn't become fulminating and all-encompassing. But imagine the picture: Ryuji sitting cross leggedly, listening to tales about old gods and curses and he's just... all ears. He's trying to get Ashitaka to loosen up, just a little bit, and he's done it before, and succeeded, with just as equally intense people. Hopefully it doesn't take a blade against his neck to do it, but whatever. If that's his fetish, he's not gonna start judging.

So it's not that awkward, really. He just lets it roll off his shoulder, laughing at how rigid the returned compliment is. Are they close enough for him to tease him yet? God, he wants to tease him for that.]

Thank you, Monsieur. Your words are too kind!

Or somethin' like that.

[Oh god, someone should smack this kid upside the head.

But Ryuji does knows a thing or two about hate. It's what fuels rebellion, it's like the Wheaties to his breakfast of champions, his innate mistrust of adults and everything that his home time period represents. He hated lots of people- Kamoshida, Shido, that drink vendor at the Shibuya station that charged him an exorbitant price for the grossest goddamn healthy drink he's ever had (fuck, Joker. Don't ever suggest that shit again). It's just a part of what keeps his passion... well, passionate.

So maybe he... no, definitely, he's not the right person to go to for advice for this sort of stuff. Give him something to smash, he's going to smash it.]

Dude, I dunno. Maybe you should take a yoga class or somethin'. I hear that makes people pretty chill.

But screw that guy. He ain't got no right takin' away your freedom like that.

(unsure)

[lonelywar]

[Ashitaka absolutely needs someone to get him to lighten up and live a little, so regardless of whatever arbitrary social point they might have progressed to in such a short time, Ryuji should absolutely go for it. He wasn't really permitted a whole lot of joking around in his situation back home.]

Something like that.

[Mostly parroting a phrase that's a little strange to him...

Like... he has no idea what yoga is, I'm sorry...

But anything taught in a class didn't seem like it would quite cut it.]

I am not sure if that would be it. I get the feeling is not something I am to learn, but to accomplish. Or perhaps prevent.
Regardless, I am not sure it is even possible here.

[The ball of lead that had broken the bones of and corrupted the god to a demon had led him to Irontown and to Eboshi, the woman that had lodged it within Nago's body. He had felt like he was close to the answer, especially after seeing Eboshi and San at one another's throats, but... to say that it was all an arrested development was an understatement.]

It is a sin to kill a god. I knew that there would be consequences the moment I lifted my bow.
I have found trying to search for where to place the blame is more exhausting than it is fruitful, though.

[ryuji]

[It's not arbitrary at all. It's at least a level one social link. At least worthy of a baton pass. Maybe. Who's he to tell what special powers this sort of stuff gives people?

But... he does smile something wicked when Ashitaka responds to him with the same phrase, albeit a little more formal and little less thug, but he likes it. He feels like Ashitaka shouldn't lower himself down to his own level. And it's okay if he doesn't know what yoga is (Ryuji honestly doesn't know either? like a bunch of people sitting in a room doing pre-workout stretches and moaning weirdly)]

It kinda seems like anything is honestly pretty possible here. I mean... look at it. We're in the middle of a revolution that neither of us got to live through.

There's thousands of accomplishments left. One of 'em has to be what you're looking for. And if it's not, we'll figure it out!

If we know one thing, it's that time is on our side. And if it's not, we'll pluck the curse right outta your heart. :)

[That's the shitty thing about blame. It's never put in the right place. Sighing, he closes out the chat window for now and comes back to it a little later.]

Screw it, then. Stop blaming, if it ain't gettin' you anywhere.

[lonelywar]

[Ah, that's right... none of Ryuji's social points are arbitrary.]

I would have thought time to be very much against us.

[Though not in the sense that they were running out of it, but they were running up against those that could use it against them. The final fate that had befallen Xici was still vivid in Ashitaka's mind; he would not let it fade.]

You are right, though. We are told not to too drastically change the course of history, but there are many and more things that we can do to change things for the better.
And... yes. I am not sure it will be possible, but I am grateful you are willing to try.

[Ryuji's eventual response, which Ashitaka receives some time later as well, also gives a brief pause in response. It seemed like something one might not reply to verbally in person, but that's a level of interaction not offered through text...]

Yes. It is better to dedicate thought to something more productive.