ROUND 3

[idolpro]

[ The room is BRIGHT YELLOW, as all the rooms you will enter are. Black tiles make up the floor, changing to your unit's color when pressure is placed on them. There is a button in the very center of the room standing on a podium; it's slightly smaller than palm-sized.]

[♫]

Comments

[worthathousand]

[ there's the sound of boot heels again, this time coming towards her (a last hurrah for lesbian culture); then, Paloma's vision clears to the sight of Amaranth leaning towards her to offer a hand ]

Consider your reaction to getting punched already forgotten.

In truth, I cannot describe that as an especially dignified moment from me, either—and I will never relish BARiTONES suffering.

[marsascending]

A real gentlewoman. Really, it was very effectively done.

[ she takes the hand, and—well, she's contractually obligated to CR check, but. it'd be appreciated regardless.

she brushes herself off; adjusts her blazer ]

Well, may at least one of our units make it to the finish line. I could say the same for you and yours.

1/2: CR information

[worthathousand]

[ beginning with the strongest emotions, moving downward:

• Persephone, Lucifel, a ....third? (it's Caelestis): utter devotion—she would die for them without hesitation; kill for them, if necessary. there's a mournfulness there, too: a feeling that she has already failed them; that she is desperately making up for some failure.
• LiliS: very nearly as strong a feeling—her children, but adoptive. a loneliness, though, like they might not understand her. she misses Lavender. she already adores Azalea and sees much of herself in her, but is unsure if that's a good or bad thing. she fears her distance from Camellia.
• Cardigan: her 'bash, her mate, the one who knows her as if on instinct. love.
• John: She hates him. He will never understand her—or perhaps he does, but he rejects that understanding. It would be better if he had never joined LiliS. She loves him. Please find happiness. A strange new seed of distrust.
• avante en garde: there's not the sense of familial obligation as with LiliS, but much greater comfort; a feeling that she is understood in avante in a way she isn't with her own unit. An extra degree of affection for Griffin; an uncharacteristic discomfort for Nemesis.
• Shrike: another from her world, besides Persephone. a student, perhaps. a confidant. growing respect.
• Eclipse: from her world, too. an adoptive son. pride, protectiveness, worry.
• Requiem: oh gods she fucked up. a strange blend of care, protectiveness, worry, frustration, and even attraction.
• Kohime: a blend of motherly protectiveness and distinct camaraderie—someone with whom she can share her own bitterness.
• Cobalt: she can't decide if she sees him as a son or a comrade, but she trusts him, and wants him to be happy.
• "the godling" (God): borderline-murderous, though the feelings are currently held in check by her own temperance. also strong negative for Amy, though more along the lines of "THIS bastard fucko."

beyond this point, the strength of the feeling is much less distinct.


• BARiTONES: LiliS's sister unit; the other side of the same coin. protective of them and angry on their behalf, but besides Kohime and to a lesser extent Ruby, does not feel strong trust or connection with individual members.
• Intensity: respect and distrust in equal measure. please stop making child soldiers. someone who is willing to make a change, but she's not sold on liking that change. also Cardigan is hers now, so he can fuck right off.
• Maki: old dislike being worn away, gradually replaced with a kind of respect. wanting to write her off and earn her respect at the same time. someone who is like her and yet not like her.
• Wednesday: daughter-lite
• Silver: trying real hard not to resent him for being the one John actually loves; trying instead to care about and protect him as the one thing she actually can do for John.
• BAD END=DEAD END: committed allies out of the common cause of dying a whole lot
• Kaguya: a student
• Other units: a generalized bitterness; a belief that they want to be good but don't want to actually make the hard choices that would be required for the pain of bad games to not be disproportionately heaped on the same units again and again. ]

[worthathousand]

[ being vibe checked doesn't occur to her, though honestly it's debatable whether it would bother her, even if it did. ]

An effective punch, or an effective resistance in general?
—In truth, that is the first time I've been aware of my mind being altered. I would ask that you not do so again, so long as any other option remains to you.

[ it's a big loophole, but past a certain point, one must use the weapons one is given. ]

[marsascending]

Both. Didn't I tell you I wasn't a front-line combatant?

[ which, given how she did fight, has some implications, probably. ]

Though while we're requesting courtesies, I can't say that I found losing my senses pleasant. I'd rather not fight against you, of course, but as this has illustrated, we don't always get our choice.

[worthathousand]

Indeed.

And I shall note that. Unfortunately, LiliS has few options in combat, once powers are brought into the mix—but that does not mean we need to do that in the first place.
—It's certainly the more honorable approach.

[marsascending]

Fair enough. I'm no stranger to what others consider dishonorable combat, so I don't hold grudges on it, but I appreciate the consideration.

I suppose it's rare we get the chance to decide our fates on this level at all, though.