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[bluescreenwhitedragon]

"This is Intensity. Leave a message."

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[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Anubis! Can you really not see the fucking difference between the two?

[rollwillpowercheck]

I don't know! I just... I want to be able to make things better! And if nothing does that...!

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then what? You give up?

[rollwillpowercheck]

[he's quiet for a long moment. then he shakes his head.]

... sometimes I want to. I really, really want to. I won't. But it hurts, you know...?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Being the underdog is never pleasant. That's not going to change.

But what you're asking for is an impossibility. Revolutions and uprisings are not built on the backs of people linking arms and fighting with good will and faith in others as weapons. They're bloody. They're messy. And they almost always involve a sacrifice of equivalent value when it's all said and done.

Your ideal community will never come to pass when the rules of engagement specifically exist to create the opposite environment. So your choices are limited. You can minimize your scope. Bend your ideals. Break. Or continue living in your fantasy land.

And that is within your power to choose.

[rollwillpowercheck]

It's not-- I'm not asking for a bloodless revolution. There can't be a revolution in the first place if people aren't working together! That's the problem!

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

The people who are smart enough to understand the situation are working together. Is that not enough for you?

[rollwillpowercheck]

There's so few of us. I just don't understand why.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Really? Think about it for two seconds. I'm sure you'll come to a correct conclusion.

[rollwillpowercheck]

...

[closes his eyes.]

I can think of a lot of reasons. But I can't use pessimism as fuel the way you can. It's just-- it doesn't work for me.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Just sighs]

Name one thing you want to accomplish.

[rollwillpowercheck]

[opens his eyes again to give Intensity a blank look]

One thing? Um... I guess... if I could...

[trails off, thinking. then starts again.]

If... people like me, who don't want unnecessary violence, and who think there's... value in caring... if I could help them feel less alone and like they need to conform to this place's ways of thinking--?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then there. That's it. That's the one thing.

[rollwillpowercheck]

[tilts his head to the side, considering]

You think I should just focus on that?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

If you can't handle a thread, why waste your time trying to untagle the whole damn ball of yarn?

[rollwillpowercheck]

Because I'm stuck in the yarn basket...

[sighs]

But... I get what you're saying.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Good.

. . .

It's how I keep focused, you know. Everything for the sake of ultimately getting a chance to overthrow the producers.

The rest doesn't matter. Even if it wants you to distract you from your true task.

[rollwillpowercheck]

[nods slowly...

and then leans forward to rest his forehead against Intensity's shoulder.]

... thank you.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I need you for endgame, Anubis.

You can't go falling to pieces before that happens.

[rollwillpowercheck]

I know. I don't intend to.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You better not.

Sane white mages are hard to find.

[An insensitive comment? Probably]

[rollwillpowercheck]

[probably. but also incredibly true. he huffs a tired laugh.]

Yeah, apparently.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Awkwardly pats on the back.

Good then. Are you done?]

[rollwillpowercheck]

[wow a gesture of comfort??? lifts his head, giving Intensity his personal space back, and starts wiping at his (red and blotchy) face with his sleeves.]

Ah, I'm a mess...

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Better fucking treasure it.

Wait.

Now he has to ruin it]

Is that somehow different from normal?