debriefing ♔ in the emptiness there's a solution | just look within yourself for absolution

[nepotism]

♬ locking up the sun- poets of the fall

WHO || Wynn, Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Gar, Archer, Des, Vi, Rafael, Fred Jr., Dumage, Mark, Rocket, open! [Closed]
WHAT || Andres Mission Debrief & Aftermath
WHERE || Knights HQ, lobby etc.
WHEN || September 18th [forward dated*]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

There are plenty of missions that return to the castle a success - most of them, even. The defeated air of the solemn group that returns from their diplomatic mission to Andres Isle to hear the demands of dictator Dimitris Sarandis makes it quite clear that this wasn't one of those.

Starting with Sarandis' actual demands - for all Knights to withdraw from Andres under penalty of death, or for Wynn to offer his own head in return for Thomas' safe return - and ending with the unexpected, disturbing confession from Kat that she intended to stay behind on the island because she had "fallen in love with" the dictator, the events of the island made it very clear that Sarandis was cannily playing his hand to get the Knights where he wanted them.

Fred Jr. shoves open the doors with his unnatural strength, stalking in ahead of the group into the lobby. Whoever's on desk duty isn't going to have to roll a high wisdom check to see that these people are pissed... and distraught... and a myriad of other emotions on the bad end of the scale.

*I am changing the date of the briefing log and Andres log/live session to have taken place in September, to avoid us being in backdated hell forever, and to allow for a September squiring ceremony before apps are closed. Carry on... in the future!

Comments

[silvermaid]

[ she reaches her hand up to squeeze his once, fixing him with a thoughtful look ] I wasn't particularly talking about killing him.

[nothingsodivine]

I know- those were my words. [He grits his teeth and hisses.] But some people... I don't exactly know how locking him up would work out for anyone. He's got powerful friends.

[silvermaid]

No, I'm not certain that would be the solution either. But I think stopping him - really stopping him - is about showing those in his thrall who he really is, changing their minds about him. Helping the rest of them overcome their fear.

That doesn't necessitate killing him. Maybe we'll have to, maybe we won't be able to. But as long as we can change the way Andres sees him, he'll be stopped.

[nothingsodivine]

Y'know what they say, Ana- you can't kill a symbol. [He pinches the bridge of his nose.] I wish it were that easy. I wish we could stand him up in front of a crowd and show everyone the blood on his hands, but I bet you half the people on that island wouldn't care. They'd throw a sheet over what they don't wanna look at and go back to their lives.

[He drops his hand.] But we'll see. The team's crying for blood after what he did to Myri, Spike, and Kat- Myri, included. I don't think anyone can talk this one out.

[silvermaid]

I didn't mean that they could. I'm just... Just saying that the victory should be weighed by changing the hearts of the people of Andres. Not by putting one man's head on a stake.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des nods slowly. Maybe he should stop being so... murder happy around the shiny beacon of light.] You're a good, dame, Ana. That's a bit too rare these days.

[He squeezes her shoulder.] And as big as my talk is, I don't think more suffering is gonna make Andres a better place. You are right- where it counts. I just hope they see it that way.

[silvermaid]

From what I've heard about Mark, I think his heart in the right place, at least. That's what will matter, to the people of Andres. They won't be able to help but see that, just as they can't help but feel the darkness in Dimitris, as much as they may claim to, or try to ignore it.

[nothingsodivine]

Given what we heard in there, Dimitris is about eighty-five percent why Mark's lesser qualities exist. Without that shadow hanging over him, I think he has a chance.

[Or at least he has to keep telling himself that. Luckily, he's forgiven Mark his inability to watch a door.]

[silvermaid]

It's amazing what a difference it can make, being out from under those influences.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des winces a little bit.] Depends on the influence, I guess.

[He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the ceiling.] Ana, can I ask you something? It's a dumb question, I know. I know I can, but it's one of those "this has the potential to get melodramatic and heavy" types of questions, so I figured I'd let you brace yourself.

[silvermaid]

[ she tilts her head, regarding him with warm curiosity ] Well. Consider me braced, then.

[nothingsodivine]

[He looks mildly uncomfortable. Maybe he was hoping she'd be like "no Des you can't ask me anything" or maybe he didn't think this through and he's regretting his decision. He opens his mouth a few times, trying to find the words, before it all finally clicks into place.]

Have you ever been in a situation where what you know is right flies in the face of what everyone you know believes to be true about the world? And you just know that if you ever tried to explain it, no one would ever believe you, if they listened to you at all, because it's just not how their worldview works. They can't fathom a world where... I don't know. The sky is red. Ice cream is poisonous. Cats are aliens. Anything like that.

[And also nothing like that, but if he didn't bring some levity to this, he's really going to sound melodramatic.]

[silvermaid]

[ she seems to give the question some serious thought, studying him thoughtfully as she does so. ] I don't know that it's ever been anything so extreme, but--

I suppose I do know what it feels like to be so isolated, in the past. This world wasn't always one that accepted the existence of my kind as fact, and they certainly weren't quick to adapt the beliefs of another world into their own.

I've always known, since I came here, which is the first thing I can remember in my life, that the gods were real, because they're a part of me. Yet here I was in a world that insisted those things were a fantasy, or any other number of ways to write them off. That aspect of my lineage was a huge part of my identity, but it took me a long time to meet anyone else who would even acknowledge it for what it was.

It's a terribly lonely feeling.

[nothingsodivine]

[All the tension in Des's shoulders- built up because he was expecting a flat "no" or something similar- dissolves and he falls into a slouch, eyes dropping to the floor.]

There's nothing more lonely than believing in something no one else believes in. It makes you feel like you're gonna wake up one morning and everything about it will just be gone. Or worse, everyone you know will just start calling you crazy and write off the whole thing, so you're left with two options- cut it out of your life entirely, because that's what the sensible thing to do would be... Or keep fighting until someone else- anyone else- believes you.

[silvermaid]

Des... [ she steps closer, still an ever polite distance, but enough to gently touch his arm and try to draw his focus back. ] If you need to talk about something, you know I'll listen. And at the very least try to understand.

No one should have to compromise their beliefs.

[nothingsodivine]

That's the problem, Ana. [It takes him a minute to drag his eyes away from the floor, laughing bitterly.] I don't even know where to start trying to explain it. I got my paradigm shifted big time awhile back and I feel like I'm looking at the world differently, but no one else sees it like I do. And I just feel so bad for them, 'cause they don't know.

[He reaches up to put his hand on hers.] If it were easy to explain- if I could explain most of it- I'd have done it a long time ago. Because God knows I don't enjoy it being this way.

[heavensend]

[ ♬ from a balance beam - bright eyes

concern wends its way across her features, and she looks pained on his behalf, as she urges: ] Maybe it's the hardest thing in the world, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

I've been there. Maybe not precisely where you are - I have no idea where that is, obviously. But... when the Unicorn sent me back to New York to fulfill some unknown destiny, I felt so alienated by what the city had become, the cynicism and sense of loss that permeated so much of what surrounded me, that I thought it would be the end of me. I couldn't bring myself to explain it to anyone for so long: the crushing weight of my own memories of that place, things that had been lost to me forever, combined with the hopelessness I found everywhere.

It felt so melodramatic. To everyone else who lived there, that was normal. It was just how things were, and they couldn't understand why it seemed to tear me apart the way it did. Why it was all wrong.

If I hadn't ever found a way to talk to someone about it - anyone - I don't know how long I would have lasted, Des.

I don't want you to feel trapped the way I did.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des inhales a bit. Melodramatic- yeah, there's a word for it, but he knows everything she's saying. He's been there- exactly there- and could probably talk at length about the shock to the system that seeing a place change when you haven't will do to a person.

He chews on the inside of his cheek, unable to speak, looking horribly lost and sympathetic and a mixture of other emotions, and then he pulls her in a direction.]

Not out here. It's not a... polite company story.

[silvermaid]

[ she just nods and lets him take the lead to find an empty room. /HOPS TO A SECRET LOG I GUESS. ALL THE SECRETS. ]