homophonic ❆ libby

[bindings]

libby

quote/shitpost/song lyric here

CODE

Comments

w0, FRIDAY (continued)

[bindings]

[from here and also i definitely do not have a picture of libby for the header help]

I can't say I do. [but she's curious!]

[medeian]

Sure. So - it's a little complicated, but essentially, I can influence how molecules work? So in the example I gave earlier, with the fire, it's essentially carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen, and nitrogen, right? I can shift things around until those atoms exist in a way that would make a flame appear. But the effects can do a lot more than that. Like...

[she will continue this nerd speech indefinitely]

[bindings]

[i'm sorry to inform you she will just let libby talk for as long as she wants because this is not a new occurrence for her. her master talks forever, she's used to it.

but when libby seems to like... wind down?? she tilts her head.]

I wonder if that is how the Traveler does it.

[medeian]

[(insert science nerd monologue about all the cool stuff you can do when you can functionally ignore several laws of physics)

but she tilts her head slightly afterwards.]

The Traveler?

[bindings]

[it's endearing, honestly, it reminds her of home.]

A... friend. [wow, that's novel to say.] She is able to use any element she chooses, despite not having a Vision.

[i refuse to let genshin impact's marketing win my traveler is a girl]

w0, MONDAY

[bindings]

[good morning, we are outside the ikea. shenhe is sitting on the curb, looking down at her phone. she seems to have gotten past the This Has A Demon In It phase, and is very slowly pecking out a message with an expression of great concentration.

when she senses someone approaching, she looks up.]

What is a wormhole? [great opener, this is how we talk to people]

[medeian]

[good news she will always be excited to talk about nerd shit! so she's heading over to take a seat next to her.]

Oh - that's a really good question. [brightening a little] It's basically like... For starters, does anyone where you're from have the ability to teleport? That might help me explain it better.

[bindings]

Ah - yes. I have known people to use the elements to do so. Wormholes have to do with teleporting?

[medeian]

Yeah. Another name for them could be portals, but that's simplifying things a little... Basically, a wormhole is a kind of tunnel through spacetime. Well, the time part is theoretical - I've only ever managed to make one through space. It's a really complicated kind of magic where I'm from, though, because you have to make sure that it's safe to go through, and they're really unstable unless you're careful. They're rare for a reason.

[fuckin nerd]

Can I ask why you wanted to know?

[bindings]

[she listens very patiently and with a lot of intent, actually. shenhe likes learning! and while some of this kind of goes over her head, she's interested.]

It says on your profile. [she holds up the phone with her thumb and pointer finger, dangling it like it's gross.] I was curious.

w0, FRIDAY 2

[bindings]

[shenhe is out standing in front of her warehouse! she's just... standing. that's all, staring out over the streets with a slight frown on her face. this is not a fascinating starter but she really is just the kind of person to brood like this.

kind of brooding.]

[medeian]

[coming across her on her way back to her own warehouse and pausing.]

...Fucked up, right?

[bindings]

[a short little sigh.]

Not really. We knew this was coming. [be nice]

[medeian]

[frowns]

So you're saying the fact that we expected this means it's not messed up that someone got erased?

[bindings]

[a

pause.]

It's the point of the competition. [but. like she's actually asking:] Is it fucked up?

w1, MONDAY

[bindings]

[there's an alarm going off inside the museum. hm.

yeah that's it that's the starter]

[medeian]

[help

she hears it when she's already inside, so she's immediately looking around in concern to see if she can tell what happened or if anyone else is here.]

[bindings]

[she will see shenhe! shenhe has a jewel in her hand that she just picked up out of a display, and there are guards rushing her.

shenhe just looks at them approaching, and then summons a fire sword.]

[medeian]

[i regret to say she isn't getting involved in this directly but she does gesture at shenhe to stop while screaming internally]

[bindings]

[this, maybe predictably, does not work

she is going to try and destroy these guards but nothing happens - she slices the fire through one, and they just ignore her, and grab her by the arms.

which is fun, because she nearly hisses at them when they do]

w4, tuesday.

[medeian]

[up until now, shenhe has been on the list of people libby has been awkwardly avoiding (it's almost like when you do bad things it makes it hard to get along with people.........), but wherever they are in the void, she doesn't have much choice as a pig noise barrels towards them both and encases them in an inescapable memory bubble.

after a moment of surprise:]

...Shit. [...] Not because - I mean, that wasn't directed at you. Obviously. Sorry.

[bindings]

[shenhe has also been avoiding her, not making eye contact and staying clear as she could. her ropes are not on, and so she doesn't want to tempt fate, because she's not sure she can not be angry.

so when they're stuck in a memory bubble, shenhe just immediately goes very, very still. like a statue, like ice.]

You.

[is her greeting, chilled. calm, for now.]

[medeian]

...Yeah. Me.

[awkwardly. help i still haven't finished the memory i'm writing up for you yet but i didn't want to leave this sitting forever feel free to go first or i can yeet in next tag]

I can - leave you alone as soon as we get out of here.

[bindings]

[help the way mini event destroyed me but

shenhe opens her mouth, and as she does a pig does a kickflip in:

You are sitting in the garden of your childhood home, in a little village that you've grown up in. You are six years old, and your father has been away for a year, though you're not sure why. It makes you sad, sometimes, when you think about it. Your mother is gone, and the village takes turns making sure that you aren't starving, but for the most part, you're just alone, making up stories and playing with the stray dogs in the village. It's lonely. You're very lonely.

So when your father returns after that year, and he gives you a smile that borders on manic, you don't notice how it looks. You're overjoyed - father is back, and maybe this time, he won't leave. Maybe this time your curse won't drive him away. You can be good this time. You will find a way to make sure that you don't hurt him or anybody else ever again. Maybe he's forgiven you for what happened to your mother.

He doesn't even wash up, when he returns. He comes straight to the garden and smiles widely at you, and says that you should come with him to the cave in the mountains behind the village. He has a surprise for you, to make up for the fact that he hasn't been home. You don't really hope for much, but. A toy would be nice! Maybe a kite, or something that the two of you can play with together.

Your father brings you to the cave. You make sure your long black hair is out of the way, ready for whatever the surprise is.

But he barely even pays attention to you as he strides into the cave. He goes right to the altar in the middle, constructed out of stone, and he flicks through a book, and he mutters. And you take a step forward because you're unsure. Maybe you should help? You take another step forward, and then - out of the book swirls something dark and hideous, a black and rotting creature that has no shape at first as it crawls out. It drips out of the book, and your father turns and starts to walk away.

You're confused - you're a little scared, so you say, "Father?" and he ignores you, and so you look back at the shadows that soak down out of the pages, and you see it is growing teeth. It is watching you with bright blood-red eyes, and when it meets your gaze, it licks its lips.

You stumble back, and you start to cry - you are six years old, and this is the scariest thing you've ever seen - and you turn and race after your father. This isn't what he meant, right? This can't be the surprise - but he pushes you to the ground and sneers at you.

"You are a cursed child," he spits, and you stare up at him from where you're crumpled on the ground. You reach for him. No, it - no, this time, it'll be better. This time you won't bring ruin to everybody around you, you promise, you will find a way to be good, but he just shakes his head and keeps walking. "Your life brings nothing but disaster to us all."

You stand, shakily, and run, but something grabs your leg, and you scream as the monster drags you back. Your father leaves.

"At least if you die, I can bring her back." And the light from outside vanishes as the monster pulls you towards it's mouth.

But as a child - a child who hasn't grown up just yet, a child who hasn't forsaken emotion and the joys of living because you know that you aren't allowed those anymore - you don't want to die. You want to play outside, and you want to make friends with the other children in the village, and you want your mother back, and you want your father to love you, and you don't want to die you don't want to die you want to live --

The sleeping calamitous fates, violent urges, and unyielding spirit within you burst their bonds all at once. They are your unseen shield, your invisible blade, and they are all that your frail form has to protect yourself. You have a dagger that belonged to your mother. Instinct has you cut open part of the monster and it wails, and you run to hide. Your next attack is with fangs and claws; you swear to tear that wretched creature before you to shreds — to prove that you, and not it, are the cruelest evil that stalked the darkness.

For days, your life-and-death battle is one without end. Hunter and hunted switch places many times, the conflict locked in stalemate. Sometimes it rips at your skin and sometimes it just chases you when it finds you. Sometimes you beat it back just enough to find some time to rest. But you are exhausted. You can't sleep. You're hungry, and you're thirsty, and everything hurts, but you don't want to die. You refuse. You won't. But there's only so much that your tiny body can handle, and eventually, you collapse. You're afraid. You know it is coming, the monster, with its snakelike body and hungry maw. But you can't find the strength to continue.

And that's when the tide changes.

A vivid icy light pierces through the dark like skyglow, showing the path to the future. A crystalline object falls down from nowhere, into your hands. You look down at it shakily, trying to breathe. You know, instinctively, that this will allow you to wield ice. That you can use this to decide which monster will live, and which will die.

You pull yourself to your feet one more time. You wipe the tears away.

It's the last time you ever cried. It's the last time you felt anything at all.

which leaves her gritting her teeth instead.]

[medeian]

[all of this is horrifying. how young she is when this happens, the shock of being betrayed by a loved one, a parent who should have been taking care of you, and of course - the fear, the physical pain and exhaustion of a battle lasting days. it's always disorienting seeing a moment that truly doesn't belong to you, but something like this is even more shocking.

she looks incredibly concerned, but even if she knew something comforting and helpful to say in this situation, she doesn't know whether shenhe would want to hear it coming from her (for good reason). after a very awkward pause:]

I - I know how invasive things like this are, so, I mean, you don't have to talk about it, obviously. But... I'm sorry. Nobody should have to go through that.