Testing Post: TESTING HARDER

[stringmods]

We hope you'll enjoy your stay. But is this just a dream? You remember the man who said you were here as a special guest...don't you?

[[OOC - Welcome to the test post! Don't worry too much about Persona stats or your levels here, just come out and make up a scenario about what they are doing. Try out your potentials and interact with the city around you! We'll supply some NPCs once in a while when you least expect it (after all have to test those out too, right?)]]

Comments

[primordial]

But...really, it's hard enough getting people to trust you in the first place. You simply can't just open your arms wide and expect everyone to come running to them, as kind as you are...

[And a sad sort of laugh.] Trust me, you don't really want to take on suffering. Better to stick with happiness, in my opinion.

[selfgodded]

Yes. I've noticed that they are a lot more guarded here.

[It baffles them. In the wastelands, they gained new worshippers with great ease]

But I do. I want it. I want to drown in it. To understand it.

[primordial]

Well, it makes sense, really. We all come from different places, so it's not like we can trust people who might be totally different from us in terms of, well, everything.

[He shrugs slightly with a sigh, as if to say "what can you do?"]

You know, somebody once told me, if you don't find misery, it finds you. Maybe you shouldn't look for it.

[Oddly enough, his eyes look like they're laughing, even though his expression says its anything but.]

Maybe it'll come along when you least expect it.

[selfgodded]

[They seem thoughtful, tilting their head to the side]

Yes...that seems correct. The brief brush of suffering I had was quite unexpected. It left me a little off balance. It was a very interesting experience, but I have never been able to mimic it again.

[They hung their head in exaggerated disappointment]

A shame...

[primordial]

Well, I don't think suffering can be mimicked, really. We all have our own brands of it...happiness is the same for everyone, but unhappiness? That one is unique to every person.

[He sniffs.]

I know my sufferings aren't exactly ones that have been experienced by anyone else...it makes me sort of glad, you know? To know that no one has gone through what I went through.

[selfgodded]

[They lifted their head abruptly, staring intently at the other]

Suffering is unique to everyone? Yes...my worshippers all shared the same woes, for the environment was the same, but in a place here, where people come from different worlds and different experiences...

[They stepped forwards, posture screaming of intense interest]

What made you suffer?

[primordial]

It is.

[And there's a long pause, and once again he stares down at his shoelaces as he thinks of how to answer.]

[Finally, he looks up, with a tight-lipped frown.]

A man that wasn't a man at all.

[selfgodded]

Oh? Were they a woman instead?

[primordial]

No! No. [A weird look, because that is not a mental image he wants to have no, kthanks.]

No, I mean that they weren't really human, even though they looked like they were.

[selfgodded]

Ah~ so they were like me then.

[They appeared deep in thought]

Why would they make you suffer though? Unless they were a malevolent God who feasts upon suffering.

[primordial]

In a way.

[He seems to be dancing around his words, choosing them carefully, like he's walking through a minefield.]

Why? Well, in a way, yes. And no.

[A pause.]

Punishment. That's why.

[selfgodded]

Punishment? I do not understand. Why was there punishment?

[They seemed genuinely confused]

I do not believe in punishments. Humans are humans, and to punish them for acting within their human nature seems...detrimental.

[primordial]

I did tell you he wasn't human, didn't I?

[An amused huff, though he lapses into sad silence again after a few seconds.]

...I'm not saying why I was punished, though. Too personal.

[selfgodded]

[Although the mask hid their face, it was clear that they were pouting in disappointment]

...fine. Tell me your name at least.

[primordial]

[A shrug.]

Sam. You?

[selfgodded]

[There was a bit of a pause]

Before I answer, I must ask: what do I appear as to you? A man or a woman?

[primordial]

[He blinks in surprise, before looking the person up and down with a worried sort of expression.]

This isn't a trick question, right? You're not going to slap me if I say the wrong thing or anything, are you?

[selfgodded]

No. I won't harm you. There is no wrong answer. It's just that my name depends on what you perceive me as.

[primordial]

I don't know, actually...I mean, you act a lot like a woman, I think. But for some reason, I think man. I don't know why. I would say "neither", if that was an option...

Do you ever take that mask off, though?

[selfgodded]

No.

[Their voice became sharp then, a hand lifting to press against their mask protectively]

It is never to be removed... so you say 'man', do you?

[primordial]

Yeah, I guess I'll say man. For now.

[And he tilts his head curiously, like a bird.]

Why not, though? Is there something...scary underneath there?

[selfgodded]

No. My face is relatively unremarkable, but it isn't appropriate for mortals to see a God's face without permission.

[He lowers his hand from his face, and gestures vaguely]

You have picked 'man'. In that case, my name is Leo.

[primordial]

Kind of like Zeus, huh? You look upon the face of a God and you get either killed or go mad in the process.

[There's a pause, and then he lets out a laugh, as if reminded or a particularly intricate inside joke.]

Leo, huh? You're named like one of the districts here, you know.

[selfgodded]

Yes, I know. This mortal body was born beneath the Great Lion, so I thought the name fitting.

[primordial]

Great Lion? What is that, another god?