video

[avephoenix]

Hiya, Hadriel.

[It's Faith on screen, looking no worse for wear except in how brittle her smile is and how dimmed her gaze looks. (She's trying to smile because Shadow asked her to. She's trying, but the weight of all that happened is still heavy on her shoulders.) Even her voice is missing some if its verve, despite how it lilts and bobs like normal.]

I just-- I want to apologize for what, erm-- for what that other me said an' did. Want to take responsibility for it all. She, erm-- she's all the things I hate in--

[This is hard. All her time here, she's downplayed her status to her community at home. Should she try and keep doing that? Is it even possible to anymore, after what the other Faith did?]

She's who I could've been, I guess. But I'm not. That's why 'm sorry.

[She sighs. Okay, that's done. Now the easy part.] An' before it gets said, I've got to say: please don't blame the gods for this. S'not their fault they have to do things like this to survive. They're people, just like us, an' sometimes we need to hurt other people for our own sakes, yeh? Like when y'break someone's heart 'cos you know somethin's not workin'. Or animals, right, when we kill animals to eat. Breed 'em and kill 'em for us, for our needs.

Don't blame the gods. They're not the ones what burnt those temples and buildings. That was my shadow, and I'm sorry.

[Her smile long since gone, Faith stares at the camera for a second or two longer, then shuts off the feed.]

Comments

[avephoenix]

[Have a Faith giving him a bittersweet smile.]

Just starting to try and make up for things, Mr. Hedgehog.

permatext + private.

[torrefied]

[Well, that's - hmm. Mello managed to escape having a double of his own cause chaos this time around, but it wasn't so long ago that he was taken over by a demon and put on display. It's not exactly the same, but it's similar enough for him to find discomfiting.]

How do you know that the gods here are acting out of necessity?

same, girl needs a break from talking aloud

[avephoenix]

I talked with Sorrow about it. He told me a little about the time before we got here. You don't see what he did and not do what you can to survive. To help the others.

[Her chest aches like it did in Sorrow's temple when they talked. Yeah, she still believes him. She understands.]

[torrefied]

[Sorrow is one of the few gods with whom Mello hasn't yet spoken (he has Reasons), but if anyone can understand being driven to drastic measures by necessity, it's him.]

Would you be willing to share what Sorrow told you? In detail.

audio;

[kingslight]

[Regis has been silent in regards to his dislike for deities but this message prompts him to speak publicly for the first time since arriving.]

If they are not to blame for the travesties that befallen us, then who is?

[His voice is stern, far too stern and unforgiving.]

I refuse to turn a blind eye to their wickedness no matter the reason. Nor should you if you have bore witness to their horrors.

audio;

[avephoenix]

[Faith's voice is calm as she replies, heavy with compassion for her fellow non-gods and for the gods alike.]

Why do we have to place blame? Are we wicked for raising chickens an' cows for slaughter? Have you ever done something for a person's own good, or your own?

I've heard tell of their sadness. They care for each other like we care for our own. I can't-- I just can't blame them for that. Not now I've seen it from their persoective.

[And didn't Rosenberg blame Creatures just for being themselves?]

Re: audio;

[kingslight]

I'm not some lamb to be brought for slaughter.

[The fury within his tone is gradually rising with every word.]

None of us are. Has the hubris of your alleged 'goodness' blinded you to this truth or have you chosen to ignore it?

[He cares nothing or these deities. Nothing. All Regis cares about is protecting those who deem the closest to his heart. Regis utterly despises the Gods for putting his loved ones at risk. Noctis and Lunafreya deserve so much better---]

Do not ask of others to forgive when forgiveness is earned. They've done nothing to earn forgiveness and continue to do nothing other than further this abusive cycle.

voice.

[bheidh]

There are other ways to survive. Choosing to hurt someone does not make you blameless.

voice.

[avephoenix]

Are we blameless, then? If I fight to kill on a battlefield, or in my own home, am I to blame for the suffering that follows? Or do we make exceptions for cases where harm is done without ill intent?

[bheidh]

There is always blame if someone is to suffer, but it is not always to the same degree.

[knifecollecting]

[Well, Jo agrees that the doubles aren't to blame and neither are the people left behind, but...]

Are you really arguing that the gods have to hurt us sometimes?

[avephoenix]

'm saying it's in the nature of everyone to cause hurt now an' then.

[knifecollecting]

The gods seem to do it a lot here.

[Her experience is that all gods do it.]

[Video]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh looks tired more than anything else. It's the only reason she's not yelling.]

Of course we should blame the gods. All of this is their doing.

Possibly your world is different, but in mine, we do not torture animals before slaughtering them.

video

[avephoenix]

Depends on who y'ask, doesn't it, about the torture. To me, torture means there's cruel intent behind what's done. Survival's not a cruel intent, in my mind.

Sayin' "of course" assumes you're right without a doubt.

[And Faith... she doesn't like absolutes. Not even absolute compassion. More and more, she's living in the grey area of life.]

[Video]

[mismanagement]

Sadism is a game. Survival makes it something else entirely. And if you believe I ought to show them understanding after what they have done to the people around me, then you are hopelessly naive and nothing will save you.

[Maketh just frowns at her.]

I have no doubts about them. They call themselves gods and like to think themselves kind. I know where they stand.

video;

[hasitsthorns]

I don't blame the gods.

I can't. They're too similar to me.

[ Rose doesn't make any mention to Faith's shadow. They all have shadows looming over them. Right now, she's deciding to shed a little light on hers. ]

video; 1/2

[avephoenix]

They're similar to us all, in some ways.

[Faith appears to be missing the point...]

privatw video; 2/2

[avephoenix]

[...until she sends this private message.]

Guessin' you mean more than just philosophically?

[There's sympathy in the softness of her voice, her tentative smile. She is here to listen and try to understand.]

video; private

[fulcra]

I'd say that the gods are much more to blame than you are, Faith. [ ahsoka's voice is gentle, but there's something tired in it. this isn't one of her pep talks, not really. ]

If we held you guilty for the capacity for darkness and violence inside you, we'd have to do the same for ourselves. And it's much more important that you're not like that. That's what you're responsible for: what you are despite what you have the potential to be.

video; private

[avephoenix]

[Faith sighs. At least Ahsoka isn't making this into a conversation that simplifies good and bad. Degrees of blame implies there's grey, and this is nothing if not grey.]

Just find it hard to pass blame for things done in order to survive. And who of the gods suffered because of my shadow: Hope and Sorrow. I really don't think they're the ones that did this.

I should've stopped her. I should've faced her long ago, when she was just a piece of me an' not her own self.

audio

[unitas]

What? [ She starts, uncertain how to word the anger and then the sudden sense of betrayal she feels. She understands the woman's argument, has tossed it around in her head since she found out, but it ultimately only comes down to a single thing: how she and the people that may as well be her family are hurt by actions the gods think are necessary. ] They may not have any choice in taking the emotion but they can choose how they attempt to appeal to that part of us, how they manipulate us. They've forced us into situations straight out of... [ nightmares, and not just nightmares bred of fear, either.] God damn, and the simple fact that you can write it off...

Fuck. [ She doesn't really mean what she says next but the words tumble out. To Sharon, Faith can no longer be an ally. ] I may have liked your bitch ass other better if this is how you really are. [ Sorry, Faith. :c ]

audio

[avephoenix]

Y'know, if we could reach a truce, that'd be the best by far. Then they could live, and we wouldn't--

[Wouldn't suffer. Wouldn't have to go through things like seeing your worst self take the stage.]

I won't argue that. How you feel is how you feel. None of us can be friends with everyone.

[Faith's voice cracks towards the end of that, because all she's ever wanted is to be friends with everyone. She's liked everyone, for god's sake. But when it comes down to it, when it comes time to make difficult decisions, that's not always possible.

It's a damn shame.]