Thunder breathing is the style Gramps taught me. If I breathe in a way that increases the amount of oxygen in my blood, I can concentrate all of that energy into my legs and let it rip like lightning. That's why it's called the breath of thunder.
Anyway, breathing styles are the only way humans can combat demons. I don't know anything about the kind of cultivation Ling does.
that sounds like overclocking a human in a very specific way? like hacking themselves to forget that legs can only exert so much effort without damage... ]
... What interesting ways people develop to get around their own body's limitations. It makes more sense to me than cultivation, at least.
[ she's quiet for a moment, giving him a long, measured look. ]
Speaking as an individual, it isn't as if I can really judge anyone here. I'm just one doll, after all.
[ and dolls are meant to serve. they might be allowed to advise, they might be allowed to offer input, but it's not their place to really have opinions about things.
or at least, not their place to openly voice them in any meaningful way, anyway. not for most of them. ]
But are you asking 45, the doll you all keep insisting to be kinder than many believe, or are you asking UMP45, leader of squad 404?
[ does he really want her professional judgment on this. ]
[ there's something measured about that look and those words, but he doesn't shrink back. he did say that he trusts her at the beginning. ]
I'm asking you.
[ both, one or the other; 45 or UMP45, she's still her. she can answer however she wants. he already knows that if it's a professional judgment, it probably won't sound too good for him. ]
If you're asking me as a commander in the field, judging all of us as... not necessarily allies, but would-be collaborators working towards the same goal?
The group we have here isn't a group I would ever have chosen to put together. But even that theoretical scenario would be better than what our reality is.
[ the whim of pandora murdergame slapping people together, period, without even the mission objective stated upfront to gather them that way. ]
This isn't an evaluation based on individuals, of course, but as a whole, as a group comprised of everyone here... I wouldn't rate us favorably.
[ that wasn't exactly what he asked of her, and that she would default to her commander persona says a lot.
he appreciates the candid answer. this is a ragtag bunch at best. they're just fortunate to have previous experience and some leaderlike types among them. ]
[ people don't ask for 45, the person. in fact, most people aren't really aware she exists? so of course her default is ump45, leader of 404. after all, that's the face people do business with.
and like she's implied to someone else, in a mansion dimensions away, what do the personal opinions of a single doll matter anyway? ]
Coordination and actual cooperation, which is easier said than done, I'm aware. Funny enough, Akira had the right idea back when he pulled all of us together that first week. I won't say that we should make friends with everyone here, but... What we've mostly done so far is coexist, maybe.
[ everyone is more or less passably friendly with each other regardless of the game they came from, maybe, but when it comes down to it they're all still mostly just existing in each others' presences, with varying amounts of wariness of those around them depending on who it is. how closely knit some people are is a double edged sword in a place like this, because, well... ]
If we keep treating things in terms of us and them, and drawing lines in the sand that's how we'll divide ourselves when eventually those preexisting ties get stressed. In which case, we'll be too busy defending ourselves and those we call our own to bother putting those loyalties aside for a moment to look at the bigger picture.
[ pause. ]
I don't necessarily ask objectivity from everyone here, but I would ask that when things inevitably come to a head, people put aside their feelings and desires for short-term self-satisfaction for the sake of accomplishing what they claim they're working for. Whether it's defending their friends from justly deserved accusations or blindly chasing after those who killed without questioning why or making sure they have the right person, that sort of thing is going to get us all killed in the end.
that sort of thing has been killing people. he looks down at the floor, glimpsing his hands while they hang at his sides. as clean as they appear, there's blood on them. ]
I think . . . everyone knows we shouldn't be doing those things, but . . .
[ sometimes they can't help themselves. knowing is different from doing. emotions are difficult like that. he himself was clouded more than usual by his heightened feelings last week, and he can't say that he's proud of the things he did now. ]
Knowing isn't good enough. [ in some ways, it's worse that people are aware. ] Ignorance can be alleviated. Willful disregard or denial, on the other hand.
[ sticking their heads into the sand and hoping a solution presents itself from other parties. ]
Ah, but then again. I am just a doll, after all, and I've been just as complicit as anyone else here.
Perhaps I simply can't grasp the intricacies and depths of human feeling. And what a pity that is.
A squad shrouded in mystery. ▓▓▓▓▒ has met them once, and others can only guess at the members' identities from rumors. Members of the squad all have advanced AI and high capacity for independent operation. Rumor has it that Squad 404 usually deals with ░▓▒▓▓▓▒▓▓▒▒▒░░
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no subject
Date: 2020-07-23 08:31 am (UTC)Ling also thought I was talking about something else, but what you're saying is right. Since he can't fight anymore, he's been cultivating disciples.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-23 08:00 pm (UTC)[ which is so far out of her wheelhouse she doesn't even have an opinion to offer on it. ]
This sounds more mundane, if a bit poetically metaphorical.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-23 08:47 pm (UTC)[ given their names and backgrounds, he assumes jin ling and yin yu speak of a similar kind of cultivation. ]
And neither can I. Demon slayers use breathing styles, not spiritual techniques.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-23 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-24 04:34 am (UTC)Anyway, breathing styles are the only way humans can combat demons. I don't know anything about the kind of cultivation Ling does.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-24 05:13 am (UTC)that sounds like overclocking a human in a very specific way? like hacking themselves to forget that legs can only exert so much effort without damage... ]
... What interesting ways people develop to get around their own body's limitations. It makes more sense to me than cultivation, at least.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-25 05:35 am (UTC)Limits are still limits, though. If I overdo it, I can break my legs.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-25 05:55 am (UTC)[ one burst of speed, two, three? a few seconds of sustained activity? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-25 06:13 am (UTC)If I were to use the first form in here, I'd be able to reach the other side of the stable in a single step.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-28 09:15 pm (UTC)[ impressive even by doll standards. at least, it takes a higher performance body than the average to manage that. ]
Haha. If humans really had managed to figure out how to push their bodies to such limits, you'd almost think we might be unnecessary.
[ but only almost, because there are so many reasons for dolls to exist. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-30 05:41 am (UTC)[ he lowers his hand. ]
I wonder if that's true. Even with these enhancements, there's still a lot that we can't do on our own . . .
[ 45 can never be unnecessary, whether as a weapon or otherwise, in his eyes. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 04:03 pm (UTC)[ take it from a doll who's very, very aware of her own limits. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-01 05:09 am (UTC)[ she seemed to be alone in the memory. but if she's saying that, it can't be just reina. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-01 08:48 am (UTC)[ do as she says, not as she does. though the tense is deliberate. ]
It's just me. The dolls around me for now ... we're just together because we're headed toward the same destination, that's all.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-01 05:41 pm (UTC)[ that's better than being totally alone, right? ]
Then it's similar to this place.
[ now, that sounds pretty bad. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-02 05:14 am (UTC)[ this is... hm.
it's a ticking time bomb is what it is. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-03 04:40 am (UTC)What about here?
[ does she consider this circle better or worse? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 07:55 am (UTC)Speaking as an individual, it isn't as if I can really judge anyone here. I'm just one doll, after all.
[ and dolls are meant to serve. they might be allowed to advise, they might be allowed to offer input, but it's not their place to really have opinions about things.
or at least, not their place to openly voice them in any meaningful way, anyway. not for most of them. ]
But are you asking 45, the doll you all keep insisting to be kinder than many believe, or are you asking UMP45, leader of squad 404?
[ does he really want her professional judgment on this. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 03:54 am (UTC)I'm asking you.
[ both, one or the other; 45 or UMP45, she's still her. she can answer however she wants. he already knows that if it's a professional judgment, it probably won't sound too good for him. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 05:07 am (UTC)The group we have here isn't a group I would ever have chosen to put together. But even that theoretical scenario would be better than what our reality is.
[ the whim of
pandoramurdergame slapping people together, period, without even the mission objective stated upfront to gather them that way. ]This isn't an evaluation based on individuals, of course, but as a whole, as a group comprised of everyone here... I wouldn't rate us favorably.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 05:16 am (UTC)he appreciates the candid answer. this is a ragtag bunch at best. they're just fortunate to have previous experience and some leaderlike types among them. ]
What can we do to improve that rating?
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 08:05 am (UTC)and like she's implied to someone else, in a mansion dimensions away, what do the personal opinions of a single doll matter anyway? ]
Coordination and actual cooperation, which is easier said than done, I'm aware. Funny enough, Akira had the right idea back when he pulled all of us together that first week. I won't say that we should make friends with everyone here, but... What we've mostly done so far is coexist, maybe.
[ everyone is more or less passably friendly with each other regardless of the game they came from, maybe, but when it comes down to it they're all still mostly just existing in each others' presences, with varying amounts of wariness of those around them depending on who it is. how closely knit some people are is a double edged sword in a place like this, because, well... ]
If we keep treating things in terms of us and them, and drawing lines in the sand that's how we'll divide ourselves when eventually those preexisting ties get stressed. In which case, we'll be too busy defending ourselves and those we call our own to bother putting those loyalties aside for a moment to look at the bigger picture.
[ pause. ]
I don't necessarily ask objectivity from everyone here, but I would ask that when things inevitably come to a head, people put aside their feelings and desires for short-term self-satisfaction for the sake of accomplishing what they claim they're working for. Whether it's defending their friends from justly deserved accusations or blindly chasing after those who killed without questioning why or making sure they have the right person, that sort of thing is going to get us all killed in the end.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 06:23 am (UTC)that sort of thing has been killing people. he looks down at the floor, glimpsing his hands while they hang at his sides. as clean as they appear, there's blood on them. ]
I think . . . everyone knows we shouldn't be doing those things, but . . .
[ sometimes they can't help themselves. knowing is different from doing. emotions are difficult like that. he himself was clouded more than usual by his heightened feelings last week, and he can't say that he's proud of the things he did now. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-08-16 06:42 am (UTC)[ sticking their heads into the sand and hoping a solution presents itself from other parties. ]
Ah, but then again. I am just a doll, after all, and I've been just as complicit as anyone else here.
Perhaps I simply can't grasp the intricacies and depths of human feeling. And what a pity that is.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-18 04:50 am (UTC)It would be nice to be more like you. You're able to get your act together when it counts, no matter what you're feeling.
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