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. )

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[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.

So what did she do?

Well, they're both at the balcony now, so he comes out and lets her know that he's there. So she says, you know, you have to go, they'll kill you if they see you here. But he tells her that he loves her and he's not afraid of that if it means he gets to see her, and she tells him she loves him too, so she wants him safe. But then she hears her nurse calling her, so she has to go in. They promise to see each other again, though.

( he's reminded of edgar now, my weapon is being unafraid of death. it makes him chuckle maybe a little ruefully and then nod for her to go on. )

So, in the morning, Romeo goes to meet with the town's friar, and tells him that he and Juliet want to be married. At first he's confused, because he thought Romeo was in love with Rosaline. So, Romeo meets Juliet's nurse in the street and tells her to tell Juliet to come to the church later in the afternoon. She tells her, and Juliet manages to sneak out of her house to make it in time. They get married and spend the night together.

[NOT GOING INTO MORE DETAIL THAN THAT OK]

But then, there's a fight in the street. A few members of both families get in a fight, and one of Romeo's friends is killed. As soon as he hears about this, he gets really angry, of course, and kills the person who murdered his friend. Except, the prince had already said that anybody who fought in the streets would have to get the death penalty, so Romeo gets exiled, and Juliet is mourning because her cousin was one of the people killed.

The nurse tells Juliet that Romeo is actually hiding in the friar's cell instead of leaving like he was supposed to, so she shouldn't worry about never seeing him again. The friar tells Romeo to go to Mantua and wait until they can come up with a plan. Juliet tricks her mother into getting her a vial of poison, and her mother tells her that she'll have to marry her fiance next week, since she doesn't know she's married Romeo already.

Juliet goes to the friar, and he says he can use a poison to put her in a deep sleep that resembles death so she won't have to marry Paris, and then he'll send word to Romeo to come back. The message to Romeo never gets delivered, though. He hears about her funeral from his servant and comes back to find Juliet in a deep sleep. He thinks she's dead, and he finds the poison she got from her mother, so he kills himself. She wakes up with his corpse next to her, and stabs herself with his knife rather than live without him. With their children dead, the Capulets and Montagues finally realize what their fighting has cost them, and end the long feud between the families.

[Particularly near the end of the story, her voice gets a bit watery, weak.]

— What?

( THE FUCK KIND OF BULLSHIT ENDING IS THAT )

What?

[u ok]

That's it, they both just die like that?

That's not it, their love stopped, like, decades of fighting and murder!

But they could've been together if they'd only been a little more careful and had that. Or they could've looked for other options, too. Maybe it wasn't pointless, but —

( give him a moment, he might be having a minor epiphany. thank you shakespeare. )

But if they had lived, the fighting wouldn't have ended. It would have intensified, maybe, because if they ran away together the Capulets would have just blamed Romeo and the Montagues would have blamed Juliet. I'm not trying to say it's a good thing that they died, I just - you might be missing the point. They were so young, too... It's not hard for people that young to make rash decisions.

You don't know that for sure. Maybe —

( he stops short, then shakes his head with a tired laugh. )

At least, that's what Elliot would say.

Of course I don't know that for sure, but I think that's the point Shakespeare was trying to make. I mean, it's just a story.

[THIS IS AWKWARD moving on...]

Want to hear another?

Oh, that's true.

( but since that one ended horribly — )

Sure.

Okay! Let's see.

[A pause.]

Okay, this is a story about stories! And a prince, and a few princesses, and an evil raven.

Really?

( HE DOESN'T SNICKER JUST YET )

[yeah let's see you grin after it BLOCKS OUT THE ENTIRE SKY]

Uh huh! So, once upon a time, there was a man who wrote stories. Soon, though, the man discovered that he had the power to make the stories he wrote come to life. The people in the town he lived in were scared of this power, so they cut off his hands so he could no longer write. The man died. When he was alive, the last story he had been writing was about a prince and a monster raven. Since his power had brought them to life, they were stuck in an endless battle without an end to the story. The prince sealed the raven away using his very heart so he wouldn't hurt the townspeople.

With his heart?

Yep! He broke it apart. I think it was, like, his metaphorical heart, though. Like, his feelings and all that, not the physical organ.

So anyways, since the man had powers, a part of him stayed alive [or at least that's how she figures it must have worked!!], and he wanted to be able to finish his last story. So, he assigned roles from the story to people in the town. Since he could control reality with his writing, he could do that.

( das creepy )

Did the townspeople realize what was going on?

Mm, not many of them. The people he was controlling realized it to some extent, but... [How to explain this?] For example, the two girls who were princesses were in love with the boy who was a prince even outside the story, too. So, they each wanted to use their new roles to help him in their own way. [A pause. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.] Sorry, I'm not sure how to explain this right.

No, I think I follow. So there were two princesses too?

Yes.

[She leaves out the part about the knight.]

Anyways, so the two princesses both wanted to help in their own way. One of the princesses, Princess Kraehe, thought he would be better off without his feelings. The other princess, Princess Tutu [DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH OZ] thought he deserved to be able to experience emotion. They both loved him, though. So—

Sorry, um, I really don't think I know how this goes all the way. Anyways, in the end, the prince got his heart back and defeated the monster raven. All the townspeople were saved. Um, the end.

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