[voice] A stormy question

[justicereigns]

[Hello Luceti, is the nice little ice storm distracting you from post-Valentine's woes? Don't worry, here's a grumpy marine asking questions to painfully reminds you all.]

Seeing as we're all stuck inside -- [Once again, an usually feminine voice from Smoker's journal account.] -- I've got a question for everyone affected by the event.

Are there normally lines you won't cross in relationships that the Malnosso seem to cross for you? Or do they seem to take those into consideration instead? Since they seem to know us pretty well, it begs the question whether they're using our weaknesses, or if it's completely random.

And if anyone needs help out there in the storm, let me know. This weather is good practice.

[ooc: and feel free to threadjump like the dickens. It might be the only time Smoker keeps quieter than not, seeing as he's a girl now.]

Comments

voice

[weaponry]

I guess it depends on how well they know the person. Those with friends from home, or have been here long enough for the Malnosso to observe them have a higher chance of having their preferences being violated.

voice

[justicereigns]

Brilliant. [He means that seriously.]

Damn. Why didn't I think of that.

[Pauses. Now to bother with charting it to find out if it's true or not. But then that would require actually asking everyone exactly what happened, and well most are pretty adverse to answering.]

Tsk. If only there was a good way to chart that.

voice

[weaponry]

Well, I guess you can observe those you know personally and see how long they were there and what happened to them. I can probably ask around with the people I know, since I have a bunch of people from home here. Some of them have been here for years, and one of them has an IQ of over two hundred so I'm sure he might be able to recollect on some subtle patterns. I'll also try to keep track of any Mallynapping or shifts that a person is inflicted with and see how it clashes against their personal tastes.

There are ways to chart it, it just isn't very easy. [ She seems to be more thoughtful than most on this topic. Though, she hasn't had anything that's explicitly against her wishes. ] I mean, I ended up becoming King Arthur with a legendary sword which I liked but I think the Malnosso knew my preferences about weaponry by then. After that, I became a kangaroo but I don't have an opinion on them formed period so it seems like a shot in the dark more than anything else, even if it was more of a pain in the ass than anything else I've received from this town so far. I never really cared for romance, so I wasn't affected by it but I don't think the Malnosso know about this. [ She pauses. Crap. She just gave that away, didn't she? ] Well, now they do.

voice 1/2

[justicereigns]

I think I like you. [Platonically, which wouldn't need saying, but post-Valentines; it couldn't hurt.]

All right, let's see... so far one guy I know was here for about 2 years and he didn't have any lines crossed. But, he doesn't have anyone from his world here either. Another guy, also here for about 2 years did have a personal line crossed, but he has several people from his world in Luceti.

One woman only arrive here very recently and had a big line crossed drastically, and no one from her world that she knew was here, so that throws a wrench in it. Likewise, another woman has been here about half a year... I can't say if a line was crossed with her? She wound up with a friend of hers, so I guess that's not so bad, but there's a small line cross.

voice

[justicereigns]

I personally have had... Not exactly lines crossed. Up until recently I was never kidnapped, but I did wind up in a lot of Shifts.

Most of the things seem to be embarrassing; so sticking with that pattern... then this last Valentine's and the one before definitely fit.

[weaponry]

Heh. Thanks. [ She gets the platonic vibes. After all everyone will be thinking about platonic relationships only for the next couple of weeks. ]

Hm. Well, both of those seem to support our analysis so far but the latter one is a bit concerning. I wonder how they knew about that line. May I ask, what happened to her? [ Maybe it's a common effect that the Malnosso prescribe to just anyone. ]

I've never been kidnapped, and I'm not really looking forward to it. [ She knows it's inevitable but the question of when is slowly starting to eat at her. ] Though, you are right. Most kidnappings usually result in a public humiliation for their victim.

[justicereigns]

The newer woman I'm not sure if she's keeping it secret. Most I can say is that the person reminded her of her ex.

And with the girl who wound up with a friend, she might have a boyfriend still? It's complicated. Do relationships count if half of the couple goes home for several months with no idea whether they'll come back?

Maybe the way to deal with the kidnappings is refuse to be humiliated. [Or you know, that could make it worse since you might go like Smoker and refuse to wear a shirt even as a woman and then refuse to be embarrassed about the fact, because fuck the Malnosso, he's not changing for them. Just saying...]

[weaponry]

That is really personal. Maybe the Malnosso were scanning her mind or searching her subconscious for anything to use in the future. [ ...Man, this theory is blown up. ]

As for the girl, I guess it depends if they ever return or not, or if the person still has hope they'll return.

Heh. Well, humiliation is a reaction not an emotion. It'd be pretty hard to refuse embarrassment though some people might be hardy enough to get it done. [ Well, she doesn't know about Smoker's predicament yet so she can't judge that, even though she'd certainly question the logistics of it. Can't you cover up?! For the children?! ]

[justicereigns]

That's why I had to ask. In a lot of cases it seems too personal to be random.

What if they want them to come back, but don't want to pressure someone else to remember something they never might? And maybe they're too pessimistic for hope. [Totally not talking about the same person he was before now...]

[And he will neeeever wear a shirt. He will be shirtless to the end of time. And bite the hand that tries to put him in a tie.] Hn. True enough I suppose, though I hardly see what that could accomplish for that Malnosso either way.

[weaponry]

I agree with that. I'm not sure if I'm following what you're saying. As long as one person still thinks they're together or that they're coming, or wants to be involved, I think it'd still count as a relationship. It'd really fall on them. They wouldn't go off and cheat and seek a new relationship if they thought they were involved anyways, right? [ Tenten is rather confused by the question but she still answers it as honestly as possible. ] If they return with no memories, then, I suppose it'd be best to accept it and hope it develops again, but don't try and force it either.

[ Oh. Well, at least the male population at Luceti has something Tenten can yell at them over. ]

Maybe they just do it out resentment that we're plaguing their lands. Most of their experiments have to do with bending space or time and changes to the person, too, so maybe they're trying to find something else or using these experiments for a larger picture. We don't have much information to go on though. Our misery could be harnessed as energy is as much of a reasonable request as they just love being assholes.

[justicereigns]

[Mentally falling over. He is really bad at relationships. Which is showing to him now quite a bit.] So a person should be loyal even without knowing if someone will return, care, or even remember? Just hold on endless hope?? Seems strict. I mean how long before someone is allowed to give up?

Our misery as energy? Another brilliant idea... huh. I never would have thought of that, but you're right. I suppose it's certainly possible. Why else draft children to the battlefield?

[weaponry]

[ Tenten knows even less so you're safe. ] Well, that's up to the person in the position. They're free to give up any time when they feel like it's time to move on, when hope can only support someone so far.

Yeah, well, there's nothing to support either statement. Though I wasn't aware that even children were drafted. What the hell do they do during the battle? Just sit on the sidelines or something? This place can be so messed up sometimes!

[justicereigns]

But then maybe it's like saying the other person wasn't worth waiting for and that wouldn't be the intention at all. [He will just... be miserable no matter what he decides. Clearly.]

It was worse the first two times, from my understanding that hasn't happened as often lately, though they did still bring a cat... it was on a ship however, so I'm sure her job was just as a mouser.

[weaponry]

Oi, oi, just what type of solution do you want? [ WILL ANY ANSWER SHE GIVE SUFFICE? ] If you want the most practical solution, they can either weigh their relationship carefully or they can just wait the amount of months they were in a relationship or something. How am I supposed to know the answer anyways? [ She's never been in a relationship! ]

Well, I'm glad they stopped doing that. That's totally useless. [ Why hasn't she gone to war yet?! She's jealous! Is the Malnosso trying to saying something? ] Though the mouser thing makes sense, at the very least. Is the cat's name Foot?

[justicereigns]

Sorry. Just thinking out loud. [Chomps on cigars, back to debating things.]

Yes. She gets around, huh.

[weaponry]

It's fine, it's fine.

Yeah. She drops by here and there. I'm rather surprised she has this much free time on her hands. But, she is a really nice addition to this place. On that note, they also brought in a pigeon. [ Beat. ] He can speak human language, surprisingly.

[justicereigns]

[A shrug. Smoker's not even surprised, there are talking bears and starfish in his world, rare but they exist. Besides there's Moro here too.]

How big is he?

[weaponry]

The size of a pigeon? Like, around thirty centimeters. [ Tenten just side eyes the question mentally. What type of question was that? ]

[justicereigns]

That's all? Hm.

[weaponry]

Where you expecting something larger?

[justicereigns]

Yes. Some pigeons in my world are much larger than a human.

[weaponry]

You know, I'm not even going to question that. [ That is fucking crazy. What weird ass animals exist there?! ]

[justicereigns]

[So. Very. Many. Weird. Ones. Including an entire island of purely bizarre animals.]

From what I can tell my world is stranger than most, and that's even without accounting for the Grand Line.

[weaponry]

Your world sounds strange to me. That says a lot considering how my world is filled with a six foot tall shark-man hybrid that wields a sword that's actually alive. [ Bizarre person-other living thing hybrids can apply for the stranger than most world competition, right? ]

[justicereigns]

Just one?

[No. Like... he's legitimately staring at that. That is her idea of the strangest her world has to offer? That is just relatively normal for his world, they're an entire dominant species just like humans, mermaids, or giants. Arlong's crew alone had a good 30 fishman in the East Blue, and there are several fishman pirate crews about the world, and an entire island of eight-foot (or taller) shark-men with swords. The idea of one lone one seems more sad than weird.]