GODLY AUDIENCES - MADOKA KANAME AND YU NARUKAMI

[divus]

Comments

[frilly]

I'm managing.

[ debatable. ]

Were you one of the ones who voted in favor of this kind of contest...?

[covenantal]

Hectic... well, that might be one word for it. [ Mild as ever. ] There has been ... more death than I think anyone was prepared for.

[ He glances at Madoka when she asks her question, and ... remains quiet. There's no judgment on his face when he looks up at Cunning. Actually, there's a sort of thoughtfulness, but he'll let the god answer for himself. ]

[divus]

Managing is better than some people. [No comment about how much death there is though because yeah, you guys went hard. But Cunning's not interested in lying either, so.]

I am. When Ruin proposed the idea, I backed her up on it. The caveat that you'd get to come back in the end was to soften the blow.

[frilly]

[ Well, she's not happy about it, but smiles anyway. ]

Thank you for answering. We really appreciate that caveat.

[covenantal]

[ Yu is quiet for a moment, looking between Madoka and Cunning.

Then he'll look at Cunning and say, without real inflection: ]

Ambition said she could "fix it." Fix everyone, including our memories of dying.

[divus]

Yeah, that's possible. Ambition's got her own way of doing things, but when you leave this place you could walk away without memories of the game if you really wanted.

[frilly]

... I would prefer to keep my memories. But I suppose I understand people who would rather forget.

[covenantal]

I feel the same way. But she said she could get pretty specific with it. Like making you forget how you died, but remembering everything else.

[ thoughtfully ] She has a very interesting way of seeing the world. What would you do, Cunning? If you had the choice.

[divus]

Why do you think that idea exists? Some people will want to remember and some will want to run away from this place as fast as possible. [But there's a pause.] When'd she tell you that? Did she tell anybody else that?

And what're you even asking? If I'd remember this place, or...?

[frilly]

Because it's painful. If it were up to me... I think I would want everyone else to forget.

[ even though she just said she herself wants to remember. ]

[covenantal]

I spoke to her during an audience, and she explained how she saw the game to me.

[ quiet for a moment, considering them both. ]

We're all going to have to make that choice. And I'll want to remember, too. [ softly, without reproach, to Madoka. Cunning just gets another inscrutably thoughtful look. ]

Sure. If you were in our position, would you want to remember everything? Or would you want to forget?

[divus]

Interesting. [But he doesn't elaborate on that.]

What does that part matter? I'm playing a different game than you guys, so to forget what happened seems stupid to me. If you forget, can you really say you've grown stronger?

[frilly]

... Sometimes when you go through difficult things it can make it harder to be strong.

[ That's basically what trauma is, right? ]

[covenantal]

... and sometimes those difficult things are what gives you strength. [ very thoughtfully. ] It's different for everyone.

[ but Cunning will actually get a tiny smile. ]

Seems that we think alike, when it comes to this.

[ still. something Cunning said struck him, and he'll think on it a moment. ]

"Playing a different game" ... [ he sure is. ] Will you tell us about it? How you've decided to play.

[divus]

[Exactly, but Cunning doesn't do much beyond an incline of his head.] There's a reason "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is a popular phrase and something I think about a lot.

[But hm...how to explain....] I'm in it for the long game. It's a numbers game, but in the end it's going to be able being the god that people value most. It doesn't matter if you have a winning personality or you're nice and make friends or whatever. What matters are the results and what will get done. Look at politics. People making a bunch of promises, but how many times have people failed to live up to those promises after they get what they want?

So I'm playing as if I've already won. Getting deals in place, making sure people know exactly what I'm after...[Shrug.] I've got nothing to hide.

[frilly]

I don't think that's a bad way to think about it... And you're right that the reality is more important than the idea.

But getting along with people is important, too. That's a valuable part of showing where your values are.

[covenantal]

It's an honest approach, [ he'll murmur, mild. ]

But I can't help but agree with Madoka. Forging connections is part of politics, too. To be the god that everyone values most... wouldn't it help to win their hearts as well as their minds?

[divus]

Wouldn't it help if people actually bothered trying to think for themselves instead of avoiding someone with a name like mine? [Still casual, still contrary.] It's hard to sway anybody when people aren't approaching, and I'm not about to go chasing you guys myself.

Even now, you're only here because of Ambition, aren't you?

[frilly]

[ Madoka winces a bit at that, but nods. ] I wouldn't have switched alignments, otherwise.

... But how are your names chosen? I know you're more than just one thing - but don't they represent something important about you...? In which case, I don't think it's your name that pushed people away. It's more like... The other names were more appealing.

[covenantal]

[ Hm. Yu doesn't react, but he keeps his gaze trained on Cunning. ]

... Ambition is why I decided to visit you today, with Madoka. But I'm here because I wanted to learn who you are.

[ no more and no less. ]

[divus]

Because that's a lot better. [He shakes his head.] You realize it's all in connotation? Love could be obsession. Sincerity could be saccharine. Merriment could be frivolous. It's still taking things at face value even if they can mean the same thing.

[...there's a sigh though.] Look. You're doing more than most people and I appreciate that. I think. But I'm not sure you're gonna like what you'll hear.

[Not if that's the kind of reasoning they have.]

[frilly]

If you're going to scold us for not knowing more than your name, you should tell us more about yourself...

[covenantal]

[ ... well then.

Yu will glance at Madoka, then look squarely at Cunning. ]

Yeah. Try us.

[divus]

Haven't you guys learned yet? With our rules, we can't just answer things. It's all on a Q&A basis.

[frilly]

Then... What are your hesitations about the others as gods, and about the worlds they want to make?

[covenantal]

... and what do you believe, Cunning? What would your ideal world look like?

[divus]

I think a lot of their worlds are a little unrealistic in the long run, and I'm not confident they'll be able to fix it when things fall apart. [First and foremost.] ...when you hear the words "fairness" and "balance", what do you think of first?

[frilly]

I don't think that balance is necessarily the same as fairness.

[covenantal]

[ damn, madoka, that's real. Yu is quiet for a moment. ]

I guess the first thing I'd think of would be justice. [ they should all go hand in hand, right? ... in an ideal world. ]

[divus]

I think that's a good way of looking at it. [This is to Madoka and he seems a little surprised by that.] Justice though...it's a tricky word. Isn't executing a murderer theoretically justice? Even though it's still murder?

[frilly]

That's why they're different. I don't think doing the same thing to the murderer is justice, even if it would be balanced. And it's hard to decide what justice is - whether it's something like jail, or execution...

[ honestly talk like this is a little over her head but she's doing her best. ]

[covenantal]

[ ... in the end, Yu shakes his head. ]

Concepts like fairness and justice are likely too subjective to define even in a discussion with just three people. We'll all have our own vision of what those words mean. ... that may be true of balance, too.

[divus]

And now we've come to exactly why we're playing this game. Congratulations. [All of the gods want something, but they all have a vision of balance that's too subjective.]

You're both open-minded. I can appreciate that.

[frilly]

We're meant to solve a dispute that you couldn't, but it seems like we're just making it more complicated the more we think about it.

In the end, the decision being determined like this seems kind of... Like it's being left up to chance.