[She's valid... He's going to snoop around while she's trading that out to see if there are any other pretty heels where she's at, since clearly she found a goldmine!]
Ah - yeah, I am! [He sung a whole song about them! It's very dramatic.] It's kinda my thing; I'm the red rose that blooms by the river, after all.
[His fancy title... HE'S A SWORD BUT HE IS SO FANCY. He even does a little curtsy, like he's introducing himself again.]
But you mean flowers and butterflies, right? I guess that's pretty true!
Beautiful and fragile but more resilient than you think. Flowers have roots, and when you think about how butterflies camouflage or color themselves...
[ Roxana likes thinking about the survivability of things. ]
Mm, that's true, that's true! [Clapping his hands together!] That's why they make for such great topics when you're writing songs. I don't think I have any about butterflies specifically, but I know I've mentioned 'em before, and I use flowers all the time.
[roxana and kashuu shaking hands angrily about being chased out of the closet by bees]
Something like that, yeah. When you last longer than things like flowers- [or people] -then you kinda have to keep that sentiment, I think. Otherwise, you really lose touch of what's precious.
[ It may not be something she can fully understand because she is the one with the flower (people) lifespan. There are goals she has, and there are things she considers precious, but she doesn't know if she has to heart to think like Kashuu. ]
How people lose touch with what's precious or what people consider precious... It's different for everyone, and what you hold precious is quite different from my father.
My father has multiple wives and children, and he treats most of them like tools he can discard. If they do as he wants, they're lauded. If they don't meet his expectations, they're abandoned.
[OH NOOO man he hates this day too if only because he does his best to specifically not pry into other people's business, and now he's kind of doing that just on accident!! Hateful!!!
Also startling, not in a "wow I don't expect this at all from humans" way, but because it's always so hard to tell what people come from which situations.]
...He sounds real shitty.
[An eloquent peanut. After a pause where he considers his follow-up words a little more:]
I never really got people like that. You only get one life and it's only so long... People who chase after what they want the entire time they're alive without caring about anything or anyone else - they usually die pretty empty.
[Not stated with any particularly strong emotion, but rather as a simple statement of fact. He's seen it happen hundreds on hundreds of times over, after all.]
[ That gets a humorless laugh from her. He's not wrong about dying empty. He's not wrong about her father being shitty either, but it's the life she knows. ]
It's because people only have that one life. They don't want to miss out on having, on being better, on being powerful.
[ Greed is a powerful motivator for the selfish. ]
It's not about anyone but themselves.
[ Sometimes, all the room you have in your heart is for yourself and nothing else, if you even have a heart at all. ]
[It's such a difficult concept for Kashuu to grasp, as human as his heart often is and as selfish as he's capable of being. He's just too far removed from the human experience on a whole to understand, even with the edge he has over most other swords when it comes to knowing finality.
Still, after a few moments of mentally chewing it over, he eventually settles on a rather simple sentiment.]
I think... it'd be pretty scary, to look back on a life like that when it's about to end.
[Power and betterment, legacies, dynasties, empires, centuries of status quo, wealth, ties, politics, the simple joys of daily life - nothing truly stands the test of time. He wonders what it is that humans feel in the moment when they're forced to come to terms with such a thing, especially if they have nothing but themselves at the end of it all.]
It can be, but I don't know if people like that look back at their lives as you say. [ Because to them, they already have what they care for. If they never cared about anyone, why would they suddenly think to care at the end? ] I don't follow a life quite like that, but I can understand it, to an extent.
[ She would have to, in a family like hers. When every new generation is raised to be the same as the last, it stands for enough time for those who are alive. ]
[He just hums a little, considering her words for a second.]
I guess... I think a lot of stuff separates us. It's easier to feel sad for humans when you're not one of 'em, I think. Maybe.
[Being a human and having to deal with all that it entails seems like A Lot. They may have human hearts and emotions, but they're still far enough removed that he never feels like he's seeing things from the same angle.]
[ She doesn't necessarily think that's true. She thinks being removed from being a human can make you be equally unfeeling because you can't relate on the same level. ]
But your perspective is kinder than most, human or not, sword or not.
[Hm... He thinks that over for a second, placing a hand over his chest where his heart is without really thinking about it. Is it?]
D'you think? ...Maybe it's 'cuz I've seen humans in the worst situations before, but there's still some good even there. The place I came from - it was, um... Mm... If you think of the veeery bottom of the social classes where you're from, think of something underneath even that. Just under the whole system. And everyone on top of that, they'd look at those people like they were lower than dirt, too. The way you'd look at a bug you accidentally stepped on with a nice new pair of shoes, y'know? Except no one even wanted to talk about 'em or acknowledge they were around, 'cuz everyone thought they were super tainted. That's why they got kicked out to the dry riverbeds - nothing grows there. Maybe everyone hoped they'd all just starve.
[Some RETURN SAD FOR HER. did u know kashuu and gyuutaro and daki all came from the same caste, wow]
[ She doesn't know Gyuutaro or Daki, but if she did, she'd say that's proof he takes a kinder perspective since Daki and Gyuutaro became demons, and Kashuu is out here trying to take care of people like they're water bottles he has to look after.
She hates this day, but it's been illuminating in its own way. ]
That only proves it more. It would be so easy to hate when you're treated like that instead of trying to sympathize and acknowledging where you came from.
Kiyomitsu, you've come so far.
[ It's not touch week this thread, but she holds out her arms. She's not Buzen, and these arms are not wide open for everyone. ]
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[ But she's just going to trade her heels right there and now for the butterfly ones. She'll walk out in them. ]
You can't have one without the other.
[ Butterflies and flowers, she means. ]
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Ah - yeah, I am! [He sung a whole song about them! It's very dramatic.] It's kinda my thing; I'm the red rose that blooms by the river, after all.
[His fancy title... HE'S A SWORD BUT HE IS SO FANCY. He even does a little curtsy, like he's introducing himself again.]
But you mean flowers and butterflies, right? I guess that's pretty true!
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That's a lovely title. Very befitting of you. Does Yasusada have a similar title?
[ Where is she going to put these heels she's taken off? She's going to find some poor fellow to help deliver shit for her. ]
It's a mutually beneficial relationship.
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Thanks! I think so, too. [And then, with a little punkass grin:] Nah, he doesn't. I don't think he'd use one even if he had one, though.
[Roxana could easily find poor fellows to carry her shoes around, at least. For better or worse.]
True! They're both super pretty, too. And I guess kinda fragile, huh?
[Kashuu loves talking about the ephemerality of things!]
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[ Roxana likes thinking about the survivability of things. ]
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For both? I think that how short-lived they are is part of why they're lovely, though.
[(sad sword voice) Just like humans.]
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[ But it's not like she doesn't get the draw of tragedy. ]
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Yeah... It's a little sad, sometimes. But when you know something won't be around forever, you're a lot less likely to take it for granted.
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Better to cherish what you have while it's around, hm? That's a sweet sentiment.
[ She isn't sure how many can or how many would have the strength to. ]
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Something like that, yeah. When you last longer than things like flowers- [or people] -then you kinda have to keep that sentiment, I think. Otherwise, you really lose touch of what's precious.
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You have a good heart, Kiyomitsu.
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Y'know, a couple of you have said that... I think you guys're just too nice.
[His lil heart that's full of confusing feelings is very pleased, though.]
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[ ... ]
How people lose touch with what's precious or what people consider precious... It's different for everyone, and what you hold precious is quite different from my father.
My father has multiple wives and children, and he treats most of them like tools he can discard. If they do as he wants, they're lauded. If they don't meet his expectations, they're abandoned.
[
She closes her eyes. This day is trying her. ]
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Also startling, not in a "wow I don't expect this at all from humans" way, but because it's always so hard to tell what people come from which situations.]
...He sounds real shitty.
[An eloquent peanut. After a pause where he considers his follow-up words a little more:]
I never really got people like that. You only get one life and it's only so long... People who chase after what they want the entire time they're alive without caring about anything or anyone else - they usually die pretty empty.
[Not stated with any particularly strong emotion, but rather as a simple statement of fact. He's seen it happen hundreds on hundreds of times over, after all.]
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It's because people only have that one life. They don't want to miss out on having, on being better, on being powerful.
[ Greed is a powerful motivator for the selfish. ]
It's not about anyone but themselves.
[ Sometimes, all the room you have in your heart is for yourself and nothing else, if you even have a heart at all. ]
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Still, after a few moments of mentally chewing it over, he eventually settles on a rather simple sentiment.]
I think... it'd be pretty scary, to look back on a life like that when it's about to end.
[Power and betterment, legacies, dynasties, empires, centuries of status quo, wealth, ties, politics, the simple joys of daily life - nothing truly stands the test of time. He wonders what it is that humans feel in the moment when they're forced to come to terms with such a thing, especially if they have nothing but themselves at the end of it all.]
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[ She would have to, in a family like hers. When every new generation is raised to be the same as the last, it stands for enough time for those who are alive. ]
You have to be able to care, for it to be scary.
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Well... I'm glad that you're not following that, at least! It always sounds so sad to me.
[Humans already have so little and lead such short lives, he genuinely hates seeing them make their fleeting time even more miserable...]
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That's what separates you. For you to feel sad for humans like that....
[ She can't relate. ]
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I guess... I think a lot of stuff separates us. It's easier to feel sad for humans when you're not one of 'em, I think. Maybe.
[Being a human and having to deal with all that it entails seems like A Lot. They may have human hearts and emotions, but they're still far enough removed that he never feels like he's seeing things from the same angle.]
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[ She doesn't necessarily think that's true. She thinks being removed from being a human can make you be equally unfeeling because you can't relate on the same level. ]
But your perspective is kinder than most, human or not, sword or not.
[ It's just who he is at his core, she thinks. ]
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D'you think? ...Maybe it's 'cuz I've seen humans in the worst situations before, but there's still some good even there. The place I came from - it was, um... Mm... If you think of the veeery bottom of the social classes where you're from, think of something underneath even that. Just under the whole system. And everyone on top of that, they'd look at those people like they were lower than dirt, too. The way you'd look at a bug you accidentally stepped on with a nice new pair of shoes, y'know? Except no one even wanted to talk about 'em or acknowledge they were around, 'cuz everyone thought they were super tainted. That's why they got kicked out to the dry riverbeds - nothing grows there. Maybe everyone hoped they'd all just starve.
[Some RETURN SAD FOR HER. did u know kashuu and gyuutaro and daki all came from the same caste, wow]
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She hates this day, but it's been illuminating in its own way. ]
That only proves it more. It would be so easy to hate when you're treated like that instead of trying to sympathize and acknowledging where you came from.
Kiyomitsu, you've come so far.
[ It's not touch week this thread, but she holds out her arms. She's not Buzen, and these arms are not wide open for everyone. ]
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