tell me where to drop my camera off and you can pick it up b4 the party. i'll trust you to only take as many photos as you need. if you need someone to teach you how to use it, i'm sure you can ask around. a lot of ppl seem to be from modernish times, i mean from my perspective. you'll figure it out.
[ Ah, that. He supposes that he can ask about what was done and everything. He wonders if it would be okay to ask. No, rather than ask about that, maybe do something about the actual problem! ]
I see. Then, let's table that for one.
The way I understand things is that the two countries are at war, is that not right? And he is someone of high power. And so, I will not ask you to forgive him. For an outsider to say as much, that's unfair and foolish to ask.
However, if there was a chance for peace, even a small one, would you want it?
peace? sure. i'm not a bloodthirsty warmonger or anything, i want things to be good and nice and livable as much as the next reasonable person.
but it's super messed up to "understand" the situation back on eos as two countries at war. the empire already WON, they turned on our king and capital at what was supposed to be peace talks and killed my friends' families. they created daemons - monsters - to use in their army and didn't even care what it was doing to the planet. to their people. and ardyn PERSONALLY hurt me and both my friends who are here, over and over, laughing all the way as he took EVERYTHING from them.
that's not something i can just put aside so everyone can play ~let's get along~ at a birthday party.
[ Are you fucking kidding me? Did I befriend another villain? This one has already blackened, eh? I suppose that's fair. This is just how it is. Since I'm also a villain, I must be drawn to them. But I shouldn't shake everything off like that, either. But, really!! Want to cause a catastrophe -- have a villain think their back is up against the wall!! ]
[ I don't know Ardyn that well, so I can't say anything really, but ... I do think it's sad to be somewhere and have no one to rely upon. Certainly, that is what everyone wants for a villain. To be driven down into the mud after they've caused so much trouble in their own world. I absolutely have written more than a few times on the forum how such people should be castrated and made to sit in their own ruin. But being a villain myself, I suddenly want to take one or two or three of those words back!
Which is to say!! Forcing someone through a redemption arc is just what this old man is going to do! ]
No, I suppose that it is not something that you can put aside.
I believe everything that you are saying. I don't think that you are crazy. [ If I have to say that you're crazy, I have to say that I'm crazy for the shit I've seen! ]
I realize this may make me out to be a person worse than him, but I will not abandon that person. Not for the sake of getting along, but the sake of a peaceful future. No one becomes evil because they want to be. And the lonelier and emptier they feel, the worse their evil will become.
[ Well, that isn't quite true. There are more than a fair share of one-dimensional shitheads around, ah? But if he turns out to be that way, he turns out to be that way. I don't want this town to end up a battlefield, OKAY?! Are things going to be that bad? WHO THE FUCK KNOWS?! BUT I WANT TO PREVENT IT, GET ME?! ]
If it ends up foolish, it ends up foolish. [ HAHAHA! Miss me with some fucking death flag shit! I know better than to say something like, "I'll pay the consequences for it later." Saying that it's foolish is just fine! That's not remotely a death flag for me! ] But this feels right to do.
I'm sorry. I do not mean to dismiss the pain that you're in. [ BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS REAL FUCKING SHITTY. I'M SORRY ABOUT IT! It really sounds fucking awful! I FEEL FOR YOU, REALLY!! ]
[Haha. Que será, será sounds pretty dismissive to Prompto, but maybe he's just too sensitive. It sounds reasonable enough, that isolation and hatred and pain make it so much harder to be good and so much easier to get satisfaction from tearing people's lives apart.
It sounds reasonable enough, but hasn't everyone he loves, Ignis and Noct and Gladio with their stupidly noble souls and their honor, their pride, their duty--haven't they suffered, too? Haven't they suffered immensely, at Ardyn's hands and the rest of the world's, without that hurt ever tarnishing what it is that makes them so good?
Whatever. Prompto gets it, he thinks. This guy's got something he believes in, something that makes him give and forgive like a saint, like the Oracle. It's sickening that he's giving that faith to Ardyn, who has some next-level knack for taking the benefit of the doubt and stabbing you in the back with it.
But Prompto's biased, probably. Hard not to be when you've been pushed off a moving train by a guy.]
k. don't say i didn't warn you, though. he was nice to us too b4 he murdered my best friend's fiancee right in front of him.
I won't say that you did not warn me, but please don't make me say anything I don't want to say.
[ PLEASE. I DON'T WANT TO PUT ANY DEATH FLAGS ON ME! I really don't! I'm taking this task of dragging the motherfucker through a redemption arc against his will! Come on! Have a little mercy! ]
But I'm sorry. I am really sorry for what you have suffered and what your friends have suffered. I won't ever really know the amount of pain that you have gone through.
[ It really isn't fair. It really isn't. You have someone that believes in you and that person is saying that they want to help your enemy out. That has to hurt in ways that I can't imagine. I'm really sorry. I don't mean to turn my back on your pain, and make it seem like I'm putting a blind eye to it all... your pain is real. What you suffered is real. What your friends suffered is all real, I promise. I believe you. I don't want you to suffer anymore, either.
So... I'll do what I can. Okay? ]
But you are very strong. You were able to smile and hope for a wonderful party even with those scars. You're really strong. [ You're a good kid. ]
[ But ... I thought what if someone from Berkut's world were to come here. Berkut has not yet become a darkened individual. He's still someone who is changing a little. He may even stop fighting the protagonist, but that will still take some time to convince him of a peaceful resolution. He's also someone who is a good person ... but if someone from his world came, who was hurt by him, what would happen? ]
I'm sorry. [ I have to make a line in the sand. ] After all, what do you want? Do you want Arydn to be hated? Alone? Driven out of this city? Perhaps, tortured? Killed? What would make you and your friends happy?
I apologize. I cannot begin to understand the pain that you've gone through, and what suffering you have encountered, and what you've witnessed. But what would make you happy? To destroy what good could come his way? Would that make everything clean?
So, I don't want it. To create happy memories, to make others happy, that is what I wanted for her birthday because she wishes happiness for others. I could not be happy holding your camera and thinking about what I know. It's unfair because you are not there to enjoy yourself, either. It's unfair because of many things, and so... I cannot accept it.
It makes his heart sink, reading that. He feels selfish and childish and chastised for it, even though he doesn't think that's the guy's intent. It's just, he gets it, that wish to create happy memories, that need to make something to show someone exactly the light they are in the world. That's exactly what his camera is to him, the embodiment of that wish.
So it hurts, having it rejected. But Prompto also feels understood, in some way.]
ok. i mean, that's a bummer, but maybe we'll have a super smiling photo op some other time. （＾_＾）
um, for the record, i
[The rest of the sentence is a while in coming.]
i wouldn't be happy with any of those things, i think. the things you said about hurting him or driving him out, they just make me feel bad. not bad for HIM, really, just. bad.
[ He breathes a little sigh. But he has to hold the line, as it were. The whole situation is more than a little shitty, but what could make it better? Denouncing a villain and not standing against the protagonists, probably, but he wouldn't feel right about it. ]
That would be acceptable to me.
[ He holds out an olive branch. It'll be nice to do later. Yeah. ]
I'm happy to hear that those things would not make you happy. [ A relief, actually. ]
I understand. But he is here. Even if you feel nothing can be gained from talking, at least, be willing to talk for the sake of not having to worry about him. If a person comes to someone honestly and heartfelt, something can be understood.
I'll say again I'm not asking you to forgive or anything like that, but rather... wouldn't it be better to discuss a few things without fearing of looking over your shoulder? I have a feeling neither one of you want that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Text; a short while after Ardyn responds to the birthday invitation, pre-event
tell me where to drop my camera off and you can pick it up b4 the party. i'll trust you to only take as many photos as you need. if you need someone to teach you how to use it, i'm sure you can ask around. a lot of ppl seem to be from modernish times, i mean from my perspective. you'll figure it out.
text;
Hold on a moment. Something seems a bit wrong, and I hate for things to remain wrong. Will you be willing to tell me a bit of what is troubling you?
text;
no subject
I see. Then, let's table that for one.
The way I understand things is that the two countries are at war, is that not right? And he is someone of high power. And so, I will not ask you to forgive him. For an outsider to say as much, that's unfair and foolish to ask.
However, if there was a chance for peace, even a small one, would you want it?
no subject
but it's super messed up to "understand" the situation back on eos as two countries at war. the empire already WON, they turned on our king and capital at what was supposed to be peace talks and killed my friends' families. they created daemons - monsters - to use in their army and didn't even care what it was doing to the planet. to their people. and ardyn PERSONALLY hurt me and both my friends who are here, over and over, laughing all the way as he took EVERYTHING from them.
that's not something i can just put aside so everyone can play ~let's get along~ at a birthday party.
1/3
no subject
Which is to say!! Forcing someone through a redemption arc is just what this old man is going to do! ]
no subject
I believe everything that you are saying. I don't think that you are crazy. [ If I have to say that you're crazy, I have to say that I'm crazy for the shit I've seen! ]
I realize this may make me out to be a person worse than him, but I will not abandon that person. Not for the sake of getting along, but the sake of a peaceful future. No one becomes evil because they want to be. And the lonelier and emptier they feel, the worse their evil will become.
[ Well, that isn't quite true. There are more than a fair share of one-dimensional shitheads around, ah? But if he turns out to be that way, he turns out to be that way. I don't want this town to end up a battlefield, OKAY?! Are things going to be that bad? WHO THE FUCK KNOWS?! BUT I WANT TO PREVENT IT, GET ME?! ]
If it ends up foolish, it ends up foolish. [ HAHAHA! Miss me with some fucking death flag shit! I know better than to say something like, "I'll pay the consequences for it later." Saying that it's foolish is just fine! That's not remotely a death flag for me! ] But this feels right to do.
I'm sorry. I do not mean to dismiss the pain that you're in. [ BECAUSE THAT SOUNDS REAL FUCKING SHITTY. I'M SORRY ABOUT IT! It really sounds fucking awful! I FEEL FOR YOU, REALLY!! ]
no subject
It sounds reasonable enough, but hasn't everyone he loves, Ignis and Noct and Gladio with their stupidly noble souls and their honor, their pride, their duty--haven't they suffered, too? Haven't they suffered immensely, at Ardyn's hands and the rest of the world's, without that hurt ever tarnishing what it is that makes them so good?
Whatever. Prompto gets it, he thinks. This guy's got something he believes in, something that makes him give and forgive like a saint, like the Oracle. It's sickening that he's giving that faith to Ardyn, who has some next-level knack for taking the benefit of the doubt and stabbing you in the back with it.
But Prompto's biased, probably. Hard not to be when you've been pushed off a moving train by a guy.]
k. don't say i didn't warn you, though. he was nice to us too b4 he murdered my best friend's fiancee right in front of him.
1/3
no subject
3/4
[ PLEASE. I DON'T WANT TO PUT ANY DEATH FLAGS ON ME! I really don't! I'm taking this task of dragging the motherfucker through a redemption arc against his will! Come on! Have a little mercy! ]
no subject
[ It really isn't fair. It really isn't. You have someone that believes in you and that person is saying that they want to help your enemy out. That has to hurt in ways that I can't imagine. I'm really sorry. I don't mean to turn my back on your pain, and make it seem like I'm putting a blind eye to it all... your pain is real. What you suffered is real. What your friends suffered is all real, I promise. I believe you. I don't want you to suffer anymore, either.
So... I'll do what I can. Okay? ]
But you are very strong. You were able to smile and hope for a wonderful party even with those scars. You're really strong. [ You're a good kid. ]
no subject
so how should i give you my camera?
1/3
no subject
no subject
I'm sorry. [ I have to make a line in the sand. ] After all, what do you want? Do you want Arydn to be hated? Alone? Driven out of this city? Perhaps, tortured? Killed? What would make you and your friends happy?
I apologize. I cannot begin to understand the pain that you've gone through, and what suffering you have encountered, and what you've witnessed. But what would make you happy? To destroy what good could come his way? Would that make everything clean?
So, I don't want it. To create happy memories, to make others happy, that is what I wanted for her birthday because she wishes happiness for others. I could not be happy holding your camera and thinking about what I know. It's unfair because you are not there to enjoy yourself, either. It's unfair because of many things, and so... I cannot accept it.
I am sorry.
no subject
It makes his heart sink, reading that. He feels selfish and childish and chastised for it, even though he doesn't think that's the guy's intent. It's just, he gets it, that wish to create happy memories, that need to make something to show someone exactly the light they are in the world. That's exactly what his camera is to him, the embodiment of that wish.
So it hurts, having it rejected. But Prompto also feels understood, in some way.]
ok. i mean, that's a bummer, but maybe we'll have a super smiling photo op some other time. （＾_＾）
um, for the record, i
[The rest of the sentence is a while in coming.]
i wouldn't be happy with any of those things, i think. the things you said about hurting him or driving him out, they just make me feel bad. not bad for HIM, really, just. bad.
i just wish he wasn't here. you know?
no subject
That would be acceptable to me.
[ He holds out an olive branch. It'll be nice to do later. Yeah. ]
I'm happy to hear that those things would not make you happy. [ A relief, actually. ]
I understand. But he is here. Even if you feel nothing can be gained from talking, at least, be willing to talk for the sake of not having to worry about him. If a person comes to someone honestly and heartfelt, something can be understood.
I'll say again I'm not asking you to forgive or anything like that, but rather... wouldn't it be better to discuss a few things without fearing of looking over your shoulder? I have a feeling neither one of you want that.
no subject
the things he did to me
i can't. maybe the others can, but i can't. not ever.
no subject
I'm sorry.
I did not mean to
[ ........... ]
I'm sorry.
no subject
no subject