in which the jaunt was failed because sera spent the wholetime stealing an entire populations pants

[unagreeable]

Ugh, I hate using this head talking magic!

Hey, so, acording to that guy in all of our heads-there's a bunch of people over in the Caliphate that think they can tell people what to do. Think they can tell people what to wear, and stop girls from kissing girls, and I think that's fucked up.

So I'm going to go steal their pants. As many as I can. Who else is in?

Comments

[loyalrebel]

[He's a bit cold, and disappointed sounding.]

If liminal space permits it when we are done, I will likely be working in Leonardo's workshop.

[oftoomuchfaith]

[ ah. ]

...You don't have to. I just--

[a pause, and she's clearly making an effort to be calm] I grew up getting told if I was good enough, and respectable enough and didn't make a fuss, that I'd be okay. That nobody would... throw racial slurs at me. That I wouldn't get told I was too white to be black or too black to be white. That I'd be accepted.

But I wasn't. All it did was make me stay quiet when people did that. So when she said-- when she said that, I just... It doesn't work. Being unoffensive and laying low. It doesn't change anything. And I don't think I'm going to change anything either, probably, but I'm not going to pretend that being "respectable" will do fuck all.

[ she is pure Laura right now. She's the Laura that was gracious enough to comfort the person she thought had gotten the divinity she'd desperately wanted, because they were friends. She really needs to learn to bring more of that into Persephone. Well. Time will help - after all, it's only been about a month that she's been herself since she became Persephone, and she hasn't had even Ananke's dubious guidance to help her deal with it, and without Lucifer's immediate meshing of her divinity and mortality. ]

That's why I got angry. You gave good advice, and I... made light of that, and that wasn't fair or right of me. That's your religion, right? Islam?

Second half private!

[loyalrebel]

No, I do not actually follow any religion. I simply grew up in the Levant, knowing how to act to not offend those who follow different rules of conduct is something I grew up doing. It is why I can speak four languages and know enough to pass as a member of different groups so long as there is not much scrutiny. Besides, I somehow doubt any religion would accept me.

[He pauses, considering her story and the implications. The following continues in a private channel.]

We all wear masks, showing the world different faces of ourselves.

I show the world that I am a cripple, a man lucky enough to be taken in by scholars who makes maps for a living. It is a truth, but also a lie that is respectable to society for me to be.

Beneath that face is a killer and a thief. In fact I killed someone long before I kissed anyone let alone had a desire to do so.

Sometimes, you have to be what is acceptable to do what is not. A knife you do not expect from behind is deadlier than a sword wielded by a screaming madman.

[hooray private!]

[oftoomuchfaith]

[ Ooooookay, so he's an assassin. Okay. Well, he doesn't seem to want to kill her so... whatever. ]

That... I'm sorry? [ She sounds sincere enough, if unsure - having killed someone that young kind of sounds like it was part of suck? ]

I just... I understand that. But that's... There is nothing I can do about who I am. I can't change who my parents are, I can't change who I'm attracted to. They're just facts. And I don't see why I should have to pretend to be unhurt by people hurting me, or pretend I'm someone other than who I am just to be treated like a human being. And I don't see why I should be quiet if people treat me like shit, or say I should let them.

[ she's getting worked up again, and she falls silent for a couple of seconds as she breathes deeply to calm herself down ] Sorry. I just. It's sort of a sore subject.

Re: [hooray private!]

[loyalrebel]

I understand that. I also understand hating the world and even yourself for things you cannot change.

It is hard to be quiet and not fight back when people are spitting names at you, or just spitting on you, shoving you to the dirt because they see you as a worthless burden or only slightly better than some mangy stray dog picking for scraps in trash... or when they kill your family and hurt you so badly your mind refuses to remember what happened.

Do not show your wounds hurt until you are with those you can trust not to rub salt in to them. I do not recommend going five days through a desert to get there though.

If someone attacks you, unprovoked for who and what you are... tell me. I will see it taken care of.

[The "unprovoked" needs saying.]