windmadepoet

[windmadepoet]

Dropping everyone for a number of reasons:

Very few people in this group have the ability or desire to reach out and tell someone about a behavior or post that makes them uncomfortable and give someone the opportunity to correct it. Some do, and I always appreciate that. I haven't roleplayed in a large group in years, so I certainly don't know the ins and outs. To the few people who have told me about something and we had the opportunity to talk things out, thank you. I always try to improve how I do things and keep everyone comfortable, but some people would rather just not say anything and give someone the opportunity to correct behavior. Which is very upsetting, because I can't improve or correct what I don't know.

Isola in general is very controlling, cliquey, selective, and it gets harder for me to justify roleplaying here. I've made very few friends and had very few interactions. To the few people who did interact with me, thank you. I genuinely loved our threads and muses interactions. It's been very isolating since I've joined. I wanted to believe that it was because I was off my meds, going through a rough few months because of bullying at work and family issues, and just being paranoid, but no. Other people have made comments that this is a very large group and my threads seem to be few and far between. So it ISN'T just me.

If you want to write on discord, IM me. Otherwise, this is goodbye. I'll be watching for the mods to post my drop "requests", though I doubt they will.

To the few people that I interacted with, thank you. You made this miserable depression inducing hell group worth it.

To everyone else: Fuck you

[windmadepoet]

Another doting smile is given to Aurelius as Venti leans forward and pokes his nose, making a quite "boop!" to himself as he does so. "Such things are tricky to judge. Decarabian kept his humans alive and fed and in houses and safe from all forms of harm, but to the detriment of their mental well being. After all, was he not fulfilling the parental duty of a god by keeping them safe from harm? The outside world was covered in so much snow that no life could thrive. One would think letting them outside would be an act of cruelty. Perhaps I was a villain to him in his final moments for having helped lead a revolution?"

And when would it all end? Humans inevitably found themselves more trouble, and then blamed the gods for their misery. Casually, he starts plucking the strings in a sad tune.

"I do agree with you in some ways, though. Compromise isn't always an option. I think it's best to at least hear people out and understand where they're coming from, even if you don't agree. I prefer peace and song to fighting. But it's not always been an option to me."

Especially during the Archon War, where he had to fight for his status as god.

"Would you indulge this bard and tell me about your upbringing? I'd like to understand more about how you think and see things."

「✧」 Venti likes to talk, but Aurelius a very good at listening. He takes in the god's words thoughtfully, only replying when the other's fully finished.

"I think there's still a basic standard for right and wrong."

"Otherwise, we'd have no morals to speak of. The difference is how much those morals matter in the context of a greater good."

He leans forward in his seat, head propped on his palm as he smiles guilelessly. "The humans call this 'the end justify the means,' and seem to hold mixed opinions on the idea. They do not—or cannot—understand why Heaven won't simply compromise in the case of exceptions. But I've always believed that to give in every time is simply betraying your principles."

"Then what am I to say when the humans stray further and accuse me of grosser slights when it is they who have fallen from standard? I change from savior to stubborn, from temperance to tyrant. Inevitably they paint me and my misdeeds in a villainous light."

Golden eyes twinkle; it's clear that Aurelius finds this more amusing than hurtful.

"If all the pain and suffering in the world can lead to a greater overall happiness for the future, then I consider that an act of goodness. Judge so-called villains not by their acts, but by what their actions bring."

[windmadepoet]

"That's the point. What is sacred to one is blasphemy to the other... what is beautiful to one is a waste to another... what one views as heroic, another views as evil..."

"What makes a plant a weed? What makes a person a villain or a hero? Where are lines drawn? Who decides such things...?"

[windmadepoet]

"What makes a plant a weed? What makes a person a villain or a hero? Where are lines drawn? Who decides such things...?"

[windmadepoet]

Playfully, Venti giggles. "I actually picked music as my preferred method of communication. I could manipulate the elements by singing, I could cleanse negative energy from one's body with song, I could even communicate with people or creatures who couldn't understand the spoken language with song."

How nostalgic. "That's how I ended up talking to Dvalin at first. He descended to Teyvat because he was curious about Mondstat, and my people were afraid. To calm them and prevent a fight, I sang to Dvalin." Such an old memory.... it brings tears to his eyes to remember how young he had been, and first meeting one of his closest friends.

"I've also given Dvalin something of a power boost during a fight with a dangerous dragon with my music...." And oh his heart broke at the memory of Durin. He hadn't been evil.

"Music is immortal. Music is education. Music is soothing. Music is everywhere. Even if we don't speak the same language, music can enable us to understand each other." His voice takes on a dreamy tone, and he can't help but smile despite the ache. "I miss my music based abilities. There's a warrior I visit who is often in chronic pain because of what he had to do in the past, and when I sing for him, it soothes the madness in him and keeps him grounded to reality."

Turning to Aurelius, he smiles more cheerfully. "So I suppose I am a god of song. As for the story of a villain being "right".... well.... they say that history belongs to the victor. Right and wrong.... who decides it? What's wrong to one person could be right to another. Stealing is morally wrong, but I've stolen food from vendors because in Mondstat, I'm homeless. Killing is wrong, but I've killed so many people in the various wars I participated in. I don't think of myself as evil, but there are those in Mondstat who don't like Barbatos because he stands for fighting against those in high power who abuse and isolate those they're meant to protect. You're an angel, a warrior of heaven. That means you've had your share of bloodshed. Are you a villain? I do know stories where one could be counted as a villain, but .... ultimately, how do we decide what makes a villain? I'd actually like to hear your thoughts on this."

「✧」 Aurelius cradles his bottle of wine (now empty and nothing more than a prop) before setting it on the table to clap his hands.

"I'm more than satisfied, and very impressed."

"Are you sure you're not a god of songs as well?"

He's calm on most days, but today he's also content, like a cat who's bathed in sunshine. Or perhaps the wine had mellowed his mood. Looking at their empty bottles, the angel sighs.

"Perhaps I should've saved my share for you..."

His next glance sweeps across the crowd, some of whom linger in hopes of hearing a second song. A single frown from Aurelius, however, has them stumbling away. The angel turns back to Venti, golden eyes glimmering with an unreadable expression.

"But have you ever wondered in a story whether the villain was right?"

[windmadepoet]

💭 + Aurelius lol

Poor child. He is very much like a child, at that. For starters, he's so much younger than me!! It's hard not to think of him as a babey!!!

I wish he would stop getting into so many arguments, it's worrying!! A child like that needs friends! Actual friends! Not just clients! And they should be human!!!

Unfortunately, he seems rather sensitive, and unaware of how sensitive humans are. Which just leads to blunders and misunderstandings. If he's not careful, he's not going to HAVE any friends!! And that's not good, because children need to socialize!!

If I could, I'd take him to Teyvat. Or even show him my memories of the past, but only if he agreed not to tell any secrets.

In the mean time, I'm going to drag him around to have fun and try to teach him to be silly!! We should have a water gun fight!

[windmadepoet]

💭 + dance dance revolution

Wassat

[windmadepoet]

Send 💭 + a topic and my muse will tell you what they think about it.

[windmadepoet]

"Who's picking on Aurelius??"

[windmadepoet]

Ambrose seems like such a timid and nervous person, Venti can't help but want to reassure him. But he doesn't want to dwell on it either, since that might make Ambrose more anxious.

"If you worry too much about what could go wrong, you won't enjoy things, you know? Plus, sometimes unexpected things happen that make things fun! If it started raining, I would start running around and jumping in puddles! If it started snowing, I would catch snowflakes on my tongue!" To most, Venti would appear to have an easy going life. And that's how he likes to present himself.

"Yeah! You can sit! I can sing us a song while you rest!"

“I wish I understood how people do it. Life is short for a lot of people, you never know when something will… um.” He trails off, feeling like it’s such a dreary topic to go into, but he does get it. His smile falls a bit very briefly, but he shakes his head as if to rid himself of the thought.

At least he doesn’t feel ill at ease around Venti. It’s rare for Ambrose to feel comfortable enough talking to let go of his self consciousness, but he’s sure he’s met a very kind soul in this friend.

“Of course, that’s true, I just— know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, and I don’t want today to go badly if anything but you never know— and— sorry, I’m just making myself anxious over nothing now. It’s been a pretty long time since I spent time with someone new like this, but you’ve been nothing but kind and helpful.”

…

“Do you mind if we sit down for a minute now?”

[windmadepoet]

"Even the children are too serious." It broke his heart. Children should run and jump and play and create little worlds inside their heads for enjoyment. But instead, he'd been confronted with so many disillusioned children, who were shy and reluctant to act like children.

Sighing, he shakes the idea from his head and smiles. "Staying silly is really all we need to do! It's important for us pranksters to exist as well, as we can remind people that it's important not to be so serious!"

It always made Venti happy to find a kindred spirit.

"I know, right? People need to learn to lighten up!" Kokichi grins. "Fun is a vital part of life. Without it, we'd all die!"

"I'm used to working together on a prank." He normally doesn't want to say much about DICE, but this should be fine. "It's been sooo lonely pulling pranks by myself..." He sniffles. "But we stay silly."

[windmadepoet]

Clapping his hands delightedly, Venti nods. "Of course! I've never had a partner in crime before!" Now he really wishes that Zhongli was here, so they could finally trick him.

"Venti the bard! I'm always happy to meet another fun lover! There's too many people who are way too serious!!"

"Hmm... I see!" He nods sagely. These are all things he already knows, but he was the one who asked. "That makes perfect sense!"

"We should totally team up! I bet we'd be unstoppable." He himself hasn't had many opportunities for pranking since his arrival; maybe this is the chance he's been waiting for. At the very least, he knows who not to pick on. This guy would totally see it coming. "Kokichi Ouma, at your service!"

[windmadepoet]

He stares up at the creature with an adoring expression, in awe of how unusual it looks, compared to other things he's seen.

"Me? No, no. I'm not lost. Sometimes I like to find somewhere quite to drink and play to myself." There was two bottles of wine beside him, obviously for his own enjoyment. "What about you?"

Well, with the Witch out of the egg, there wasn't much point in hiding anymore. Besides, it was in Kyubey's interest to make more friends, even if this one didn't fit his usual profile of desperate to change.

First a white fluffy tail drops down, then his two longer ears. Finally it's the incubator's face peeking at Venti from beneath the leaves while still perched securely on the branch.

§ No one's passed by here for hours. §

§ Are you lost? §

[windmadepoet]

Venti is giggling, pleased with himself at how things turned out. He hadn't had time for a prank since arriving. He wished it was Zhongli that was the subject of his devious prank, but alas.

"Hm?" He turns to the young man approaching him, and smiles.

"Practice, timing, and knowing your subject. You don't want to cause distress, only confuse and baffle. If someone gets hurt, it's not a prank. You also shouldn't have to explain it's a joke or a prank, because it's not funny if you have to explain it." It helps that Venti was several thousand years old.

@windmadepoet

"Haha! That was a good one!"

He approaches with a cheeky grin on his face, arms crossed behind his head. One person is taking off with an annoyed expression, but he's not interested in them. He's interested in the prank master that just dunked on them.

"I consider myself a bit of a prank connoisseur. Got any tips for an aspiring young man?"

[windmadepoet]

"It's a shame, really. People miss so much beauty and simplicity in the world while rushing around. They're lives are so short, they miss out on fun while trying to give "meaning" to their life." He knew too many people who were like that. Jean, for one. She was a devout child, but she worked herself half to death.

"Of course I'd like to hang out with you again! You've not given me a reason so far of why we shouldn't hang out again." If it was the need for accommodations that made him worry that Venti wouldn't want to hang out, well, that just told him a bit about Ambrose's life. "Even if today goes bad, we can still hang out!"

“Oh, I know— apple or cherry juice would look pretty close to wine, you know? That is, um. I think that would add a little fun, too, and still non alcoholic.”

It was nice not being the only one with a little imagination, although this was a simple little thing. It still made all the difference if you just put the effort in to try and make things fun.

“Right, people are always seemingly in a hurry… Life itself always feels so fast-paced sometimes, and you’re just expected to go along with it… but.” He sighs, but he meets Venti’s smile with a sort of shy one of his own.

“Um, if today goes well, maybe that’s something we could visit together when the weather warms. It’ll probably be more like friends hanging out then, but I just mean. If you’d still hang out with me.” And it sounds like something he could enjoy leisurely, making it appealing.

[windmadepoet]

He laughs loudly. Monroe always seemed to talk strange, but everything he says is funny. 'trusty can of yikes hard pass'. His smile grows as he adds on more details, looking amused at the horror that is expressed.

"Oh I think the heart of a felled dragon still beating and keeping a cave warm isn't the weirdest thing in our world. Or even just that mountain." He talks as they head inside, though he's sure that this won't help, since all the power is out. "I thiiiiiink the weirdest thing of the mountain would haaaaaaaaaaaave to beeeeeeeeeee...."

He draws out the words as he thinks, as if trying to recall something from long ago. "The fact that Durin's blood turned into rocks."

His face scrunches up progressively more and more until it looks like he is sucking on the world's most unpleasantly flavored candy, somehow bitter and sour all the same. Probably something along the lines of bitter lemon, no sugar, nothing to take either edge off. "The fuck. Not only is that weird as hell, but I would rather not be frozen in a matter of ever, so thanks for the confirmation. I don't care how romantic it is, I will continue to drink from my trusty can of Yikes Hard Pass."

His health bar is faring a bit better, but his bundling isn't a good long term solution. "I haven't heard an idea I like more than that one, so let's get inside sometime in the neighborhood of yesterday, please and thank you," he agrees, immediately starting for the direction of inside.

[windmadepoet]

Venti giggles when he sees Monroe. "Oh yes it was very bad! It used to be such a lovely place, full of life and warm weather. It's now the home of Durin's heart, a felled dragon that was full of venom. Most adventurer's dare not travel there, because being there can cause one to become frozen solid in a matter of minutes! And that's not a figure of speech. It's still pretty bad, but it's more accessible now thanks to the Traveler, you can at least see where you're going. You used to not be able to. Ah but the mountains are such a romantic place to go!!"

His health bar would be warning him about frostbite right about now if he was a video game character. "Well... let's go inside, hm?"

"Remind me never to visit Dragonspine Mountain. Sounds horrifying." He looks to be wearing most of the clothes he owns.

Is this a hyperbolic description? Technically, yes, but this is the vibe you get off of the absolutely ludicrous amount of layers Monroe is walking around in, since his fur is currently not an option.