Function (6) - Text

[ladywithnovoice]

Back where I'm from, there were never any seasons like there are here.

Every bit of the weather was controlled and left up to the desires of the people. Did more people want it to rain? To be sunny? For flowers to bloom, letting their petals float away on a breeze? Everything left up to a vote.

It feels strange to watch everything turn dull and quiet with nothing's input but Nature's own, and just as stranger to know that it will all bloom once more very much the same way.

Do you think that most situations can be like that- a two way street that has the possibility to flourish or fade away?

Or are there things that can't ever be changed from 'good' or 'bad' once they've happened?

Just some thoughts on a nice day.

Comments

[text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

Weather by committee? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

[text]

[ladywithnovoice]

More like "weather by popular vote".

The committee just helped straighten out the votes and made it all happen.

[text]

[lieutenantantichrist]

Same idea. Same bad, bad idea.

I've known people who would send the planet into an ice age just to kill the asshole next door's begonias.

[text]

[ladywithnovoice]

Now I feel a bit bad that I don't have a story like that to share with you.

In fact, when given to the masses, I'd say things were more mundane. Certainly nothing like storms that rain sharks.

[Text]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Some things can't change, no matter what you do about it. It's a fact of life where I come from.

[Text]

[ladywithnovoice]

What sort of things are those, in your experience?

[Text]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

My experience, huh? Well, as far back as I can remember, there are people who have wanted something so badly, that they've done whatever it takes to get it. In my experience, it's ended horribly almost all the time.

The problem is, you can't talk them out of it. They'll get it, one way or another.

[Text]

[ladywithnovoice]

That reminds me of something I heard from someone once... That fate exists for some people not because it's fate, but because there are some things that some people will do no matter what, just because that's who they are.

[capitald]

[He's only just arrived. Only just woken up, really, but this little device is a most curious thing, and Ringabel simply can't resist tinkering with it a little bit. It may even help take the edge off of his... unnerving circumstances.

It starts with a click.]

Hmm, so what happens if I press this button?

[The audio feed abruptly cuts off. What sort of miraculous device is this? It's certainly not like anything he'd seen on Luxendarc.

With another click, there's a shot of a dark room and a single bed, but like the audio, it too cuts of in a flash.

So it even captures images? What sort of sorcery is this? Even Eternia has yet to create devices this complex...

And now there are letters on the screen. Well, this calls for a little tinkering.]

test

Ah, good. Seems it's working!

[Well then, now let's see about this message...

He spends a few moments perusing the text carefully. A land without seasons sounds almost preposterous, but then, what does he know? First and foremost, he's an amnesiac, and secondly, the room he's found himself in is strange in its own right. Endless music with no apparent source, peculiar little balls. The note about a mysterious "Team Rocket." Sure, he should explore, but while he's here, he might as well get a feel for the situation.

So, right. Back to the heart of the matter...]

What a peculiar concept. If even seasons were left to a vote, then how did they command nature's whims? Was it magic? Crystals, perhaps? Mind you, this is all conjecture; I can already tell that I'm in a very different land. It's all rather foreign to me.

However, I do think that life is seldom as simple as blacks and whites, despite what Edea may say. There are always small nuances. Complexities. Shades of grey sprinkled in even the darkest of places.

[ladywithnovoice]

[The response is one she's not quite expecting, but Red realizes what's going on soon enough. She waits, patiently, until it seems her new correspondent has gotten used to the Pokegear.]

[Her own answer takes a bit to come. Like always, she types, deletes, and retypes her thoughts until they're something she's satisfied with.]

No magic or crystals. It was all just technology. I'm only a musician, you see. Beyond the basic process

[Ha.]

I'm afraid it was all beyond me.

I agree. Things are rarely so simple for people, even when we wished they'd rather be. Sometimes, those shades of gray are more painful than anything black and white could ever be.

[capitald]

Impressive! I've seen many technological feats-- white magic cables to heal the ill, ships that sail through the sky, and even a dreadful mist capable of slaughtering thousands. Still, to think that man's own intervention could manipulate the whims of nature... You must come from a very different world.

[Because it seems that this is a different world and others also seem to hail from entirely different lands. Strange, and certainly mind boggling, but interesting nonetheless.]

Indeed, grey areas bring complications, especially regarding morals. What you think is right or wrong can very easily be turned on its head, bringing unseen stress and internal dilemmas.

[Fear, doubt... all troubling, yet often inescapable.]

[ladywithnovoice]

That last one sounds horrible... That sort of thing never happened in Cloudbank. Violence like that, when it happened, was rare. At least until recently.

[And even then... That came not from malice or even on purpose. She supposes it's for that reason that it goes so well with what else they're talking about.]

It's painful to learn so many things like that, but at the same time, we're driven to learn about it. Ignorance is bliss, yet many people won't accept it so easily.

[text]

[unkinder]

I can imagine that leaving such a decision on the weight of the shoulders of the masses had to present problems, eventually. Many decisions made with good intentions cause more harm than they do good.

There are some things that will never change, whether they be situations or people themselves. You can present all the new paths and opportunities that you would like, but that doesn't guarantee they will take them and make changes happen, does it?

[text]

[ladywithnovoice]

Most of the problems came from not enough people voting, and even those happened because there simply weren't terminals in the areas they lived. Some people were trying to change that... But I suppose it doesn't matter anymore.

No... It doesn't. What do you think those kind of people are like, if they have all the paths in the world and they decide not to go down any of them?

[text]

[unkinder]

I would ask what the reason for having such a system like that would be if not everyone could actually vote, but I think that is a question that answers itself.

Those people are either stubborn, or they have a good reason to want things to stay the way they are.

[text]

[ladywithnovoice]

What would you qualify as a good reason? It's different from person to person, after all.

text;

[irenicly]

In my experience, people genuinely don't actually know what they want as a group.

An individual might, but as a whole? People are indecisive.

As for your question, I don't think it's possible to change if something is 'good' or 'bad,' just that it's possible for a person's perspective on an event to change.

text;

[ladywithnovoice]

Do you really think so?

I suppose you have a point there... A person's views can be fickle, even when we think we're stable people.

text;

[irenicly]

It doesn't even have to be something major. Personally, I wouldn't want the sort of power that would come with controlling the weather.

If you do the wrong thing, you could cause a natural disaster. It'd be awful.

[AUDIO]

[adai]

Ah, hello. I'm sorry I'm replying to this with audio, but I'm not very good at reading yet.

[A pause, then Rossiu seems to realize he's missing something.]

My Pokémon made it so this device reads the text out loud, that's how I know what you've written.

[...]

Right, so, I found your message very interesting. I come from a world where there aren't seasons like this as well. I showed up here not long ago and it was snowing, so that was quite a surprise. I'm still getting used to it.

[Another pause while Rossiu tries to figure out how to put his thoughts into proper words.]

As for the more serious question you've posed... I think it depends on the situation. Some "bad" situations can be turned to "good" ones, but others are impossible to change. You can't bring back the dead, for example, but you can move on from death. That doesn't change a bad situation to a good one, however, it's simply dealing with what you've been given. I think calling it "good" or "bad" doesn't really cover it very well, actually.

I guess there are some things that you can't really classify as "bad", like having a really good day or making a friend or something like that, but limiting it to simply "good" and "bad" seems to cheapen it a bit, I think.

I'm sorry, I'm probably just getting caught up on your wording, but this is a very interesting topic.

[text forever!]

[ladywithnovoice]

That's fine. I can only do text from this end. I can't speak, you see.

I hope the snow treated you alright. It was storming when I arrived so I can sympathize.

[There's some pausing on Red's end as well, so Rossiu doesn't have to worry about being slow. She takes care in what she's typing, even if that sometimes means going back and deleting everything she writes from a lack of satisfaction.]

That's fine. I'm interested in language as well. You're not the only one who's caught onto the wording.

What would you classify it as, then? Since "good" and "bad" don't do the events justice. Can they be classified so neatly?

[audio forever!]

[adai]

[She can't speak? Oh no, he didn't realize that, hang on--]

Ah-- I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-- That was incredible rude of me, I apologize!

[He sounds apologetic at least! But after he takes a moment to calm down, he addresses the rest of what she had to say.]

...I'm really not sure there is a way to classify it. It's something that happened and its impact differs depending on what it was. Some people have experienced large, traumatic events and don't clearly remember "minor" moments. There are other people who cherish those "minor" moments because they remind them of how things were. It's not something simple that can be broken down, I don't think. Every person processes things differently, so it would vary depending on the person you're asking.

[explosivecombat]

My experiences with this sort of thing are a bit different than most, I think; I was the sort of person often called in to handle situations that most considered impossible. To rectify things that seemed hopeless, to change a seemingly inevitable conclusion from 'negative' to 'favorable', if not straight-out 'bad' to 'good'.

I've personally found that most things like that are entirely subjective - one man's victory must be another man's defeat by necessity - but at the same time, nothing is ever as out of our control as we think it is. Even if it's just a matter of changing one's perspective on an event or an incident; everything can be rectified with enough skill, and if one doesn't have the skill to do it, there are still things like luck and favorable coincidence to take into account.

...Unfortunately, however, the weather has always been well out of our control where I'm from, no matter how much we might rage against the heavens desiring otherwise.

[ladywithnovoice]

You sound like a rather talented person, if people relied on you to do things such as that.

You're not the first person to bring up changing perspective... But I think you're the first to mention things like skill and luck. I take it that's something you know from experience, considering what you mentioned before?

[explosivecombat]

Let's say that my talent is improvisation; my job is based on that, to some extent, but mostly it's experience. All the talent in the world won't do well for anyone if one doesn't know how to use it, after all; it took a while for me to get where I am, but I'd say that it's been worthwhile.

Skill and luck, however...I've found them to have a good amount of influence in both what I do and what I'm unable to do. It's not something that most take into consideration, which is either fortunate for me or incredibly unfortunate, depending on which side is failing to consider it; just the same, I've had missions that should have been incredibly simple and straightforward fail utterly just because of unforeseen circumstances that no one could have seen coming. It's just a part of reality, really - sometimes things don't go the way you'd like them to, and no matter how prepared you are there's always something that can throw you off.