how we doin, Taisho

[rollplayinghouse]

Who: Taisho (and anyone who wants to check on them)
Where: Taisho dorms
When: Day 66, late morning

[Maki ultimately spent the night at Future is Now, but in the morning she finally takes everyone's advice and returns to Taisho. She is fully grayscale at this point, and also looks... a bit darker, maybe? Like she's standing in a shadow, or someone moved the brightness slider down slightly.

She changes back into a Taisho outfit before coming back to the common area.]

So... does anyone have thoughts on doing better at unit unity.

Comments

[bluerosestyle]

Yeah, I won't agree to that.

[sonof]

Because he wouldn't listen to you?

[ source?? ]

[bluerosestyle]

. . . What?

[sonof]

[ maybe I should explain this again ]

None of us would ever agree to a leader who makes our decisions for us. What we need is a person we believe will listen to our thoughts and hold all our interests at heart, who we can ourselves all agree to support and guide, to lighten their burden in turn. Something closer to a king and council, rather than a king and the common people. Or shall I call him our substitute daughter.

Do you believe Fox would disregard your words in favor of his own interests?

[bluerosestyle]

Fox has already proven that he considers the welfare of Maki's boyfriends more important than the welfare of others on our unit. And even if somehow he needs to be told that some of us aren't actually okay with being hurt in their stead... I don't think he's the right kind of person to carry this sort of burden.

[he's soft yasuragi. you know it. don't be an ass]

[sonof]

... Excuse me?

Then, because while he was alone, guessing blindly at all of our hopes, he took the feelings of another member of this unit into consideration, it means nothing to you that he cared enough to try at all. Have I understood you?

[bluerosestyle]

I apologize for letting you down by being unfair. My expectations continue to be out of line by expecting Fox to consider our unitmates' physical well-being more important than Maki's feelings for people on other units.

[sonof]

And when you brought up that you disagreed with his decision, how did he respond? Knowing that it mattered to you, would he still never consider the other option?

[bluerosestyle]

I don't think you understand what I'm talking about, Yasuragi.

[sonof]

We've all guarded our emotions more closely than we have our physical well-being. You wanted to act as an attacker and put yourself at risk once, as well.

[ a slight beat of hesitation ]

... What happened to you isn't the same as that at all. But no, it isn't priorities or your expectations which I'm addressing at the moment.

It sounds to me as though he made one mistake by you, and you've written him off without allowing him the chance to correct it. So I ask once more, have I understood you?

[bluerosestyle]

I'm in no position to say anything to Fox about the way he chooses to act. I promised I wouldn't get involved after a certain event, and I owe that to him. Besides, he sees what he did as a good thing... And you do too, right? So there's nothing to "correct." I'm the one who's "wrong."

But even so, that's how I feel. And I have no reason to hide that, especially not when you use my own words against me right after making it clear that they mean nothing to you.

I haven't "written him off." I just don't want him as my leader. Everything else should be between Fox and me.

[sonof]

So you've written yourself off instead.

I'll reframe this a last time. If this unit appoints a leader, then we must always be prepared to forgive and reconcile with that one person, unconditionally.

Without a leader, we'll have to extend that courtesy to every one of us.

That's why I thought this would be easier.

[furrytailprince]

Unconditionally is a unrealistic request.

[bluerosestyle]

[thank you Okami, because Sol is kind of staring at Yasuragi for a moment]

...Yeah. Maybe you're the one who should check your proposals with Shu this time, Yasuragi.

[sonof]

Barring Eve, maybe, even if I can't stand a course of action, I trust in all of your intentions. It doesn't take much more than that.

[bluerosestyle]

Sometimes intentions aren't enough. And sometimes even the best of them can hurt others, and people need time to process that.

[sonof]

[ he like

lets his gaze slide away and takes a moment before answering but ]

Intentions aren't enough to prevent or solve every hurt or problem, no.

Neither do I expect anyone to get over any point of dispute immediately, or wouldn't I be a hypocrite myself.

[ there's a "but" in there somewhere but honestly he hit the point of not wanting to talk anymore so instead, abruptly, turning on his heel ]

Come take a walk with me, if you would. I need a smoke.

[sonof]

At the moment, it's more realistic than expecting us to be "unified" without any willingness to compromise.

[furrytailprince]

... I do not want a leader. I never have. All I wanted was to understand everyone's priorities. But none of you would ever discuss them. Every time I tried to understand what anyone wanted, I was told it pointless to expect a consensus. Nothing's changed.

[sonof]

...

And you think the same of Fox, as well?

[rollplayinghouse]

Don't act like that's what Fox did. He had the option of fighting someone, who for the record was also one of his friends, for the right to go forward and maybe get our unit healing. He decided that wasn't a choice he could make.

Which way do you want it? Should we attack the people we care about for the sake of Taisho? Or not?

[bluerosestyle]

The first thing I asked was if he'd saved him because he was his friend, and he said that wasn't it, that he did it because he was someone important-- precious to a unit mate. I can quote his words in his voice, if you'd like. That's what Echo is for. But that shouldn't be necessary, because as I told Yasuragi, this is between Fox and me.

That being said, I'm not acting like that's what he did. That is what he did. He decided he couldn't make that sort of choice, and that's his right-- I don't want someone who can't do that as a leader, and that's my right as well.

I don't understand where your question comes from, though.

[rollplayinghouse]

Why, exactly, do you think I attacked Intensity? It's because I accepted that we wouldn't attack any of the units people put off limits, and because I didn't want you all to start a blood feud with avante that would come back to bite everyone. It wasn't something I wanted to do.

[bluerosestyle]

When we discussed what to do in the first round, I disagreed with your decision to attack Intensity. And you... shamed me into shutting up, pointing out how you were the only one who was making decisions and suggesting names. But that wasn't all-- you told me he'd be okay with it, and you also said you were fine with killing people. You made it sound like you wanted to do it. Like I was insulting you by disagreeing.

So I said I'd think about names for the next round, because anything less than that didn't seem worth considering for you-- and I did. I thought about it, I came to a conclusion. But it didn't matter at all. By the second round, you didn't seem to care about that blood feud with avante you were so worried about before anyway, and what I might have had to say clearly wasn't even worth listening.

I've given up trying to understand you. You only care about what you consider important, and other people's views aren't worth anything to you when they don't match your own. But-- since you asked me, I think you attacked Intensity because you thought you'd be fine with it, the same way I thought I'd be fine with dying in games.

If people don't ask for something, doing that for them is not a favor. And no one asked you to make any sort of sacrifice in that game. By doing it, you just set yourself up to resent anyone who wasn't thankful for it. But even if you might have done that out of your own sense of consideration, what kind of reaction do you expect when you force your own idea of kindness onto others? I doubt you'd like that yourself.

[rollplayinghouse]

[She gets more and more upset as she listens to that, but about at the middle she breaks, and when he finishes she just snaps—]

You never tried to understand me in the first place!

[—and turns to storm out of the apartment before he can see her angry tears.]