victory_road | [ video ]

[ this time, sandalphon willingly activates the video features. he needs answers, and he needs them now.

it’s clear from the start of the video that aside from the new starly perched on his head and the new backdrop of cherrygrove, he was clearly very, very distraught. it honestly looked like he hadn’t slept for the night, with disheveled hair and slight bags under his eyes. aside from the fact that he’s never really seen an aurora borealis, the stars in the sky were bringing back really, really bad memories. he’s at least thankful that the little bird pokémon was on his head in the first place— his presence made it a lot more easier to articulate his emotions without screaming his lungs out.

yeah, he’s not taking the entire thing very well. ]

Can someone please explain the phenomena in the sky?! Those seekers only made me even more confused and I can’t wrap my head around anything they said, aside from their Lost Temple or whatever nonsense they were spouting...

[ the starly chirps a couple times on his head, as if to say calm down, it’s nothing too serious. sandalphon only gives him an annoyed look before continuing. ]

Regardless, anything would be greatly appreciated, thank you. [ and the feed cuts off there. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We're all a bunch of people who basically got kidnapped from across the multiverse... and in some cases, it might have gotten someone out of pretty bad situations. But it's still a lot to deal with and accept, especially on your own.

( every day she's thankful for razor at her side. so... it actually is just one little girl being well-meaning. even if she's a little clumsy at it. )

Regardless, people over the Network will usually be willing to help at any given point. Even if it's just to talk.

( shoutout to the folks up way past midnight to keep her company when she was sick and dealing with rude owls breaking into her apartment. )

I’ll be honest with you— Solitude is a mistress I know extremely well, thanks to centuries in prison. [ he wishes he was making it up. nights in solitude with nothing but his own thoughts were nothing but torture, but he made it through. ] That’s trained me to accept anything that may come my way, so waking up in a new world isn’t exactly the hardest thing to come to terms with. I welcome it, quite frankly.

Though I suppose that is good to know. [ he sighs. ] You are proven right, given all the replies I’ve gotten… helpful or not.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should have to.

( something she's been learning herself- slowly, piece by piece, but still. having someone who knew about living in the wilderness from the start, which she very much did not get, really helped kick it into gear though. and she covered gaps in his knowledge in return.

i'm sorry she just really loves her wolf boy brother- )

I think we're all a little lonely, on some level. But that's part of why we have the network.

( and then, a pause, and you may notice the feed turn Private: )

I got plucked from a pretty bad situation too. So... I like it here better. I get it.

[ hearing all that made the angel reconsider. he hated making assumptions, as assumptions ruined a lot more than just emotions, but something about that look and those words of wisdom tell him something that he… doesn’t exactly like. he hated when the truth was thrown in his face sometimes, but even he knows when it needs to be said.

he notes the change in feed with a raised eyebrow, and realizes that his intuition about the girl on the other side was right. he nods slowly, deciding to speak candidly about his emotions, now that the feed had gone private. ]

I doubt you’ve been imprisoned for two thousand years, however your words do have merit. [ a chuckle. ] Even so, I find making friends… difficult. I still have some trouble understanding most human norms. I’m at a loss even understanding the concept— what are friends, exactly? People you talk to on the daily?

Well, I'm only 16 so I'm sure there's time to pencil it in.

( said as dryly as physically possible. like... bruh.

but also... if he can drop something like that so casually... what is it that he's hiding? )

But no, I had just realized that... I'd been raised by a cult? And I was doing terrible things to others and myself for a love that had no merit. You know, normal kid things. And then I woke up here.

( where she was able to... be safe. her touch wasn't a curse. people truly wanted her for her and not what she could steal and destroy for them. wild. )

Mmm... something like that. People you talk to and enjoy talking to, people you can do fun things with and enjoy the time spent together. You can trust them to have your back, or listen when you need to talk, however serious it may be. It's... something I'm relearning, myself.

You’re a literal child. I would hope you don’t get into a lengthy prison sentence.

[ dadphon rears his head again!!! but he listens to jinx and her comments about the whole cult thing— and felt a huge need to simply… look out for her. ] I wouldn’t say those are normal kid things… whatever that means. But even so, learning from one’s mistakes is what allows us to grow. You seem to be doing remarkably well towards that.

[ he’s calling himself out as well, but she doesn’t need to know that. ]

… I see. Then that’d be difficult for me to do— I’m called abrasive at best.

( she thinks for a moment and shrugs- she's been arrested so many times, but it's never really stuck. whoops? )

I mean, I wasn't the only one they drew in with empty promises so for me it really was. ( but it isn't, and she knew that, and that resentment was also how they got her to begin with. so. ) Anyways. ... I... I do my best. But I know I've got a long way to go, too.

( is that too honest? it feels too honest- )

That's hardly going to stop some people, honestly. And the people worth keeping won't care if you're a bit ornery.

( everyone has their limits- for abrasiveness, carelessness, everything. but she's sure he knows that. )

[ sandalphon raises an eyebrow— he wishes he could have that nonchalance when it came to prison sentences. ]

At least you recognize that. [ he stops for a moment, thinking on how to continue. ] This reset might do me some good, if it’s helped you to an extent. At least now I can try to understand humans at a much more intimate level.

[ sandy’s just as honest jinx!! let yourself be free!! ]

It’s stopped more than enough people. It’s only a matter of time.

[ he thinks back on all the people who didn’t want to talk to him because they were either afraid of him or simply disliked him. if it worked, it worked. ]

I think it does a lot of people a lot of good. In different ways, maybe, but... it's still there, all the same.

Oh, no, I don't think it'll deter too many people here for more than a day. We're all stubborn. ( case in point: congrats, sandy, you have a ~~black cat~~ teenage girl invested in your socialization with others now. ) You'll see I'm right in time.

At least I have that to look forward to. [ the sarcasm is very, very obvious, but it doesn’t deny the small sparkle in his eyes.

his next reply, however, doesn’t spark the same reaction. simply a very, very tired one. ]

Fun.

It'll be great! You'll make soooo many friends. ( and now, she's teasing. a 16 year old is teasing a millenia-old angel about making friends. magical. except she is also the queen of mood whiplash apparently- ) ... Really though, even if it's tempting to be prickly, it won't hurt to let people in. You said it yourself, it's a reset on some level. You might as well try, yeah?

[ that just earned jinx a half hearted glare. and again, he’s beaten with the truth stick, and no matter how much he hates it, he admits its right. ~~you win this time, daughter vibes. lyria made him weak to them, jinx is only taking advantage.~~ ]

I’ll… think on it.

( ignoring the glare, jinx just smiles. she wins! )

And you'll see I'm right. ... Kidding. This time. But do what's best, not what's comfortable, yeah?

Right…

[ he’s pressing x to doubt, but doesn’t hint at it more than that. ]

Thank you, for this… oddly opening conversation. Goes to show that there’s a real possibility towards meeting anyone on this network…

( she kinda gets it, but... huh. okay. )

Mm. There's all sorts, here. But yeah, any time.

[ video ]

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sighs in 'these bitches are mlp:fim plotlines waiting to happen'

you’re right and you should say it

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