exsilium | voice; forward dated to past midnight (action open to anyone around?)

voice; forward dated to past midnight (action open to anyone around?)

( there's a slight sound of rustling after the feed clicks on, as oz makes himself more comfortable on a seat in the observatory. why he's there late at night — night by circadian rhythms, anyway, simulated nights on the moon — is anyone's guess, or maybe it's obvious enough. in any case, when he speaks up a moment later, he sounds to be in a good enough mood. )

What's your favorite story? Scary ones are probably best for late at night, but what I really want to hear about are everyone's favorites. For instance, something about a princess and a dragon, or maybe a mystery with a twist ending, or something out of history....ah, if you make it up or adapt it from a book, that's fine too! Or even if it's a real one that's happened to someone you know, ( and a light laugh ) — don't worry, I don't tell anyone!

But it's rude to ask without giving my own preference, right? I can start with mine, if anyone wants.

( he'll tell people about holy knight. all about it!!!! don't ask him about it. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( WHAT!!!! )

If he really loved her, he should've thought about what else might be going on.

Yeah, he pretty much seems like a jerk. But when the day came for her sentence to be carried out, it was the last day of the six years she was forced to be silent. She took the shirts with her to the pyre; they were finished except one, which was only missing one of the arms. As the preparations for the execution were going on, she saw six swans coming towards her on the horizon. When they were close enough, she threw the shirts to them, and watched as they all turned into men again. Since she could speak now, she told the king what had happened and what his mother had done. He wanted to execute the woman in the queen's place, but the queen, being of a gentle nature, declined. Moved by her kindness, the king's mother was finally assured of the young woman's worth. She thanked her and told her where she had been keeping her children, and they all lived happily ever after.

[actually they burned the king's mother at the stake but whatever this is a better ending]

Oh! So it does turn out happily, after all that — what a relief.

( THAT WAS SORT OF STRESSFUL TBH )

Yeah! I think what I like most about it is that she never gave up, even though she was about to die. And that she forgave the mother in the end, too.

[ahiru you made that part up]

And how much determination she had to save her brothers no matter what! I thought that was amazing.

Yeah!

[/chinhands]

Do you want to hear another?

Are you sure you don't mind? You must be tired.

( not that he would be ahah...ahah...haaa )

Not at all! I don't mind at all. I mean, unless you need to go to sleep soon!

No, no! I'm fine.

( if he says it enough times it'll become true right )

Okay! Have you heard of Romeo and Juliet?

By Shakespeare, right? But I haven't read it yet.

Yes! Oh, is it okay if I tell you if you were going to read it?

Please! Plays are better spoken, anyway.

Okay! Well, in Italy, there were two families who didn't get along at all. They'd been feuding for a long time. Their names were the Capulets and the Montagues. They'd fight in the streets a lot, so the prince of the city said that anyone who fought in public would be sentenced to death. Anyways, there's this boy named Romeo who's in love with this girl named Rosaline.

Was Romeo or Rosaline part of one of those families?

Yeah! Romeo was a Montague, and Rosaline... I can't quite remember. She wasn't important, though. Well, I mean, she was, just not for this story.

So anyways, there's this big masquerade ball, and Romeo decides he's going to go so he can see Rosaline, because she isn't in love with him so he can't spend time with her. It's a Capulet ball, though, so it's lucky he could wear a disguise because they would have thrown him out otherwise. So while he's at the ball, he sees this girl named Juliet, and she's so beautiful and wonderful that he forgets about Rosaline and falls in love with her right away.

( ahiru why are the dudes in all your stories so fickle tho )

Juliet must've been really beautiful, in that case.

Yeah, she must've been. I think she was only, like, thirteen though. So anyways, she starts talking to him and doesn't know who he is, but she really likes him, so she asks her nurse who he is after he leaves, and it turns out he's the son of the head of the house that's in a rivalry with hers. So that night, he comes to her balcony after she knows who he is, and he gives this really amazing speech... Let me see if I can remember it, I had to memorize it for school.

Edited 2013-10-13 22:56 (UTC)

[A pause, trying to recall, and then a smile.]

What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, er—

[Another pause, biting her lip.]

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick, pale with grief,
That thou, her maiden, are far more fair than she.

[She stops again, looking up as she tries to remember what comes next.]

Then there's, um, some lines between that I don't quite remember, but after that it goes...

The brightness of her cheek will shame the stars,
As daylight doth a lamp, and her eyes in heaven
Would through the... airy region stream so bright
That birds will sing and think it was not night.
Look how she leans her cheek onto her hand!
Oh, that I was a glove upon that hand,
That I may touch that cheek.

[She hardly knows anything about his meter, and it's punctuated with unnatural pauses throughout as she struggles (and fails, in certain spots) to recall the exact wording. Still, it's an earnest effort, and at least her passion for the language shows through.]

[She glances back at him, then looks down, self consciously clearing her throat.]

At least, I, um, I think that's how it went.

That is amazing!

( he's grinning, eyes bright and focused on her. the stanzas may sound a little strange and misordered, but the part that matters more is the effort made. he can always read the play afterwards to get the accurate details, after all. )

So you studied it in school?

( if he sounds the tiniest bit wistful at the thought — well. )

Yeah, I think it was... Maybe a little over a year ago? That's so weird to think about.

Anyways, so she comes out onto the balcony and doesn't see him yet, so she starts talking to herself. I think I remember this one a little bit better, um...

[A little sigh, a pause, a smile. Gently:]

Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or, if thou will not, be sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

[She stops, biting her lip absentmindedly as she thinks.]

There's some more, and then it goes on, um... Oh!

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain the perfection which he owns
Without his title. Romeo, leave thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

( not even going to interrupt that. go on, ahiru. )

[Another moment of self consciousness. She drums her fingers against her knees absentmindedly as she speaks.]

Um, that's the end of the parts I have memorized! So anyways, after that all happens, her mother tells her that she's having her enter an arranged engagement with another boy. She knows she can't tell her parents that she's in love with somebody else, though, because he's from the family they hate.

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