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Post by lilgiastar on Jul 23, 2023 17:58:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2023 9:57:00 GMT
Art sighed as he stood outside of Adriel's little cave behind the waterfall. He was waiting for Adriel because they were supposed to be going to see the new play he had translated, but Adriel was taking so long to get ready! Well... Art might have apparated in an hour early. He figured Adriel would be ready to go though! They were going to be late! There was... Oh, forty five minutes. He had only been waiting fifteen minutes?! It felt like forever. Maybe he should just... brave the waterfall ledge to get to the cave...? The wet rocks? No. Best to stay out and wait or he would get his suit all wet. He would probable-
"EEEEK!" Art shouted as he twirled around and saw Adriel was the one who had ruffled his hair. Adriel, who was a horse and was not getting ready! His own sudden movement made him slip even as he realized Adriel-horse had surprised him, so he reached out to grab Adriel around his neck as he screamed in fear and... Adriel pulled him back! "You scared me!" Art exclaimed as he let go of Adriel's neck and mane, and Adriel shied back from his shouting so he frowned and spoke a little quieter. "Sorry. You are supposed to be getting ready, though!"
Adriel tossed his head and stamped his foot. "No, no excuses and it doesn't matter how good the grass here is!" Art said as he stomped his own foot and put his hands on his hips to really frown at Adriel. "We have forty minutes to get ready! And you are still a horse! What do you have to say about that?!"
"Well, I have to say I am wondering why you are arguing with one of the horses on my land," Adriel said from behind Art. Art screamed again and almost tripped over his feet, but Adriel caught him. "I heard you screaming and shouting so came out. I figured I would go pick you up at your town in another ten minutes but... You are arguing with one of the wild horses."
Art blushed as he looked away from Adriel and noticed the horse was running off. "I thought he was you," he mumbled as he straightened his suit, feeling his ears starting to go red now.
"It was a female."
"Well... It's not like I look there!"
"She was a palomino mustang."
"Like I can tell the difference?!" Art said as he blushed even harder but scowled at Adriel. "I don't know horses!"
"She was light beige in color like your blankets while I am a reddish brown with a black mane and tail!" Adriel protested. "She was also much much smaller than me at only thirteen hands to my eighteen! That is like saying houses are all the same despite one being a two room one floor hut and the other being a two floor townhouse!"
Art crossed his arms and glared off to the waterfall before he realized something. "Wait... Why did she save my life then?" he wondered out loud. "She should have eaten me!"
Adriel huffed with amusement. "She was annoyed with you and ready to put you into the water herself if I had not come out and chased her off," he said with a shrug. "Well, since I am out here, ready to go then? It is the play you translated so we have some nice seats."
Art was about to freak out over a horse being ready to shove him into the water when Adriel mentioned the play. He promptly shoved his encounter to the back of his head to deal with later as he looked up at Adriel with excitement. "YES! I've been waiting for forever! We have to go NOW or we will be late!" he said as he grabbed Adriel's hand. He did wait for the nod before he used his portkey to his town so Adriel could apparate them to Dios. This was going to be great!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2023 6:40:28 GMT
Maroon's lesson and his paranoia about dimensions that are also spread through them.
Maroon pulled out a long white chalk stick that was more common to see in a classroom and straigtened up into a proper standing position rather than the the partial slouching cringe he usually walked around in. "Observe. This is CHOLK - Cylindrical and Helpful Outline for Learning Knowledge," he began before he started poking the empty space between him and Art with it for a few seconds. "Aha!" And a downward slash had a line of chalk hanging in the hair between them. "It works in the fourth dimension, but we can interact with it on the third, and we can see it in the second. Something that could be marked with a chalk stick in the future or the past was right here in this spot, and time is the fourth dimension. Now we, as humans, are always living in the present time, but there are theories of fourth dimension creatures - the Phoenix is a hot topic for that debate as are skills like apparition in some crowds, but I firmly believe magic is its own dimension and the intro on quantum physics could support my theory. Anyway! So you have a line. That is the first dimension. There is nothing else, no curves or angles or anything. Technically, this line is actually the second dimension since there is width to it, but as third dimension beings we cannot see or touch the first dimension at all."
He added another line to make a + sign. "This is the second dimension! You have width and length. You can draw circles, and even look at each other and see the width and length of an arm and compare it to distance because nearer things look larger and distant things look smaller. The third dimension you can feel, such as you can see that this CHOLK stick here is like that first line I drew, know that it is cylindrical in shape by the angles you can see, and feel that shape out. And your mind knows that the lines are hanging in air because of something that will be in this spot in the future or the past."
He grinned and wiped the air clean with his sleeve before tucking his teaching tool away. "Sadly, it is only good for up to the fourth dimension since that is all we can observe - we live on the third and can observe the second and the fourth, though the fourth is more like memory. The fifth is where things start getting hinky, though. You work on the atomic level at that point - time is where space starts to curve, and the fifth is where the first four dimensions curve so much then begin to compact. To break it down into something comprehensible though, it is 'What if we are infinitesimal specks living on a tiny proton that is circling a nuclear and our planetary system is but one atom that makes up a small wooden block that a baby is actually playing with in the real world?' Like our own planet has its own gravitational forced and rules that isn't the same as our Moon and most likely the other planets or even space itself, any space in the fifth dimension would also have its own set of rules. Reality turns strange there and it is completely incomprehensible for us except for the parts we can comprehend just by knowing the first four dimensions."
Maroon nodded. "Yep. That is the fifth dimension. And it is real and has been proven beyond theory. You are making a wizarding pocket within the fifth dimension with the maze spell, and that alone is an exceedingly difficult concept to grasp. With ancient magic, you have to truly understand the concept, and ancient magic theory does not work like the third dimension theory of our modern spells, it follows fifth and higher concepts which are 'the gods' and someone was on a loooot of hallucinogens, madness, and holy fervor to create such things. Rather, several somebodies that a charismatic priests could convince of because when you don't know dimensional theory, you are just throwing magic into the void and praying it hooks the right thing. Also why ancient magic is unstable and exceedingly dangerous - the people that played with such forces didn't anchor things properly or brought the wrong things out and tried to force it into a fixed position within the third and fourth dimensions. That the Cake Boss is even willing to poke such structures is horrifying for even me, but if he can kill a manticore, he can do whatever the hell he wants in my book. He could probably take on some type of outer plane being that is pissed off about being tied to our plane of existence, right? Like trying to use a 12,000 year old demon as a lawn chair for several centuries, poking it so it escapes the transfiguration that kept it in that shape, and then slap around the ancient and angry being until it decides that maybe going back to tending its neglected garden is a better idea than wreaking havoc on our pitiful third dimension plane."
Maroon sadly shook his head as he lowered his head as he gave a heavy sigh. "Man, I wish I was that strong. Then I could do those kinds of things and not worry about trans dimensional creatures wanting to rip out my spine and use me as a house lamp like the Cake Boss can."
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Post by lilgiastar on Jul 31, 2023 3:49:05 GMT
It was the year 1963, a young Art Reyes was good and close friends with an American, Adriel Chee. Art was a researcher at heart, but his titles included many things such as Archaeology, cartographer, librarian, archivist, anthropologist and historian! He was not much a movie person, he did not go out of his way to go to the movie theater. He did not see the famous movies of the time like To Kill A Mockingbird, or Lilies of the Field or Move Over Darling with Doris Day who everyone loved. He had gone to go see the critically acclaimed Cleopatra since Ancient Egypt was one was of his specialties and he did love Cleopatra. Who didn’t?
But he was not the type who even owned a TV when after 1946 when only six thousand people owned TVs in their house to twelve million in 1951. It was… nice, and when he went to his parents they owned a tv. But he saw no need to own one.
So when Adriel footed the bill for an overseas call, the man must have been insane for those costs, to tell him that he had two tickets to a very exclusive movie showing that was only being shown in the MOMA in New York City and there were only a limited number of tickets and only on March 28th…. Art was not impressed or thrilled though did try to act happy because Adriel was so excited about it. It was some movie called The Birds by some guy named Alfred Hitchcock.
Art did try to sound excited. He hated animals of all kinds, from ants to elephants and everything in between. They were an animal? It was going to eat him and it was going to be a horrible death of being eaten by whatever. And he didn’t know who this Hitchcock guy was, and with a title like The Birds and it being shown exclusively in a museum in New York… well he assumed it had to be some famous bird specialist’s documentary.
That didn’t sound bad at all, and like something that while he hated birds at least it would be educational.
So Art agreed, and booked a plane ticket and would stay in New York for the weekend. He had weekends off even so he didn’t even need to use any PTO and he didn’t get to travel much except for work and expeditions and he hadn’t ever been to America.
And then Art flew to New York, everything was going great. The flight went great, he met Adriel at JFK Airport and Adriel started to show him some spots in New York, though even Adriel’s knowledge was limited in New York due to living out West. But they did some ‘tourist’ things like take a ferry to see the statue of liberty and such.
And then it was time for the movie. Art was much more excited about being in the MOMA! There was so much to see! And yes Art had to be in a tux to do so and was close to Adriel because he did not like crowds but seeing all the art and everything…. Worth the ticket price of the plane.
And then it was time for the premiere. And everyone sat down to see this movie. Art was expecting a documentary, was expecting to see perhaps the life cycle of birds, or perhaps the announcement of a new species… something educational and ground breaking.
That was not the case.
A critically acclaimed thriller horror it indeed was, especially for the poor librarian who was terrified of animals including birds. And was absolutely terrified of being attacked and eaten by animals. And being pecked to death. And clawed to death. And eaten.
By the end of the movie which was unfortunately all about people being attacked by birds Art was a crying mess in Adriel’s arms who was rubbing his back and smiling at the other fancy people at the party who were looking at them in disgust and glaring at Art for ruining the experience.
There had been lots of screams.
Art finally poked his head up “It was awful! You are never taking me to another movie, ever! Especially one you don’t know what its about!!” he declared.
Adriel sighed and gave a resigned nod “I won’t, I promise. Come on, let’s get you to the hotel room to calm down” he said and gently stood and helped Art up. At least the next day Adriel took him to the Museum of Natural History to make up for it which was very nice.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2023 0:40:48 GMT
Healer Vita smiled at Art as he entered the room for his session for the day thinking about the progress he had made the day before, but she noticed he had... regressed. His body language was very aloof and his expression hinted at grief and anger in equal amount. She felt concerned since they had both ended the last session feeling more positive about progress, but he seemed to have gotten as bad as he was the first day. When he sat down, it was also with the extreme reluctance of the first day, and it was obvious he did not want to be here or talk about anything once again. "What would you like to talk about today?" she asked with concern, leaving the question open ended in hopes that her patient would open up in some way so she knew where to start to figure out what happened. "Nothing, I just want to work on the curse damage," Art replied as he hugged Mr. Bear to himself. He forgot the blanket, but Mr. Bear had been with him since lunch. "Then let's talk about how you are feeling today," Healer Vita said as she set out a new emotion wheel flyer down in case Art needed to refer to it. "We should pinpoint what might still be a problem, and how you are feeling will help us find out what needs to be repaired." Art didn't look at it - he just stared at his lap. "Can't you just... go in my mind again?" he asked, upset that he was here and sad that he really had nowhere else to go. "I don't like the wheel." Healer Vita was starting to grow alarmed. "I could, but why don't you tell me what has you upset today first," she said. "It will give me a place to start." Art scowled and shook his head. "You can look at that." He didn't want to talk. Healer Vita pulled out her wand and nodded. She waited until Art made eye contact with her, then dove into his memories. The day's events played out, and then she dove more into the memories to see what would have caused such tension to have built up to the point. Previous arguments all started playing out one by one - some caused by the curse and others not. The very first one that had the curse latched on to it was the argument on the boat outside an island filled with cats, however. The ones prior to that were more tame... It seemed like Adriel was trying to get Artemio to interact with him more, and the Cat Island incident was one of those, but the curse had taken Art's reluctance at getting close to anyone and turned it into a rage that made him lash out. Seeing a similarity, Vita pulled up the memory of Art lashing out at the Mavros and played both one after another to show Art that those were all residues. Then she rummaged around a little bit for an earlier memory to show Art how detached he used to be at the beginning and then Art's thoughts when he first realized that something he himself had said had hurt Adriel. Then how the curse latched on to that and had Art continue to compare Adriel to his bullies, and how Adriel kept getting upset until the whole Zeno thing at the cave happened. That was followed by the first time Adriel had made him upset, and the following interactions that played out. How Adriel had been ignorant about maps, Art had been offended thinking that Adriel was dismissing his work, Adriel realizing his mistake when Art was unhappy and complimenting the map while explaining his ignorance, Art getting ready to leave, and Adriel stopping him to apologize and making amends by trying to learn more about the map though he was illiterate when it came to them. She was trying to show Art the differences of their reactions when they realized they hurt each other - how Adriel would try to make amends, but Art would just expect things to go back to how they were. Then she showed Art buying the items from the clearance shop, but it was done only after Adriel had talked about how uneven the friendship was. And then she finally froze the last memory Art had of Adriel during lunch - the way his head was down while he wrote, but everything about him exuded pain and sadness. "You have both hurt each other," Healer Vita explained once she withdrew and Art came back to himself. "It seems like what he has been trying to say is that he has been trying his best to help you, but you keep rejecting his efforts. When he hurts you, he tries to make up for it. But he feels like there is not the same attentiveness from you to him, and the lashing out that the curse caused at the start and you not dealing with your feelings or trying to work through your antisocial personality to at least be polite to the people he cares about has all been hurting him." Healer Vita took a deep breath as she recalled the smaller snippets of memories she had seen from Art in prior sessions - not the full memories, but small snippets that just flitten past and were easily dismissed. "If someone is hurt, they have a right to get angry," she continued. "It doesn't give them a right to insult or hit another, but they have a right to explain why they are upset. It is very easy to also be hurt when you are just trying to help. Like when you were very young and tried to help another student in class with reading a sentence and was hoping that helping would make you a friend, but you were just called a teacher's pet and told to go away, it hurt. Eventually, you stopped trying to help people because you did not want to keep exposing yourself to that hurt. Then you distanced yourself emotionally when the bullying got bad - nobody helped you and nobody understood you. The teachers and your mother just said it was 'boys being boys' and expected you to handle it yourself. You felt very lonely, and then Adriel came into your life and reached out, helped you feel less lonely, but he can only take being hurt so much as well so now he is acting like you did when you stopped helping other children so they would not tell you to 'go away.' You are both very upset though because he wants to be your friend, but not at the cost of his own happiness, and you did not understand why he did that and you think it is over. But it isn't - he told you to go learn those things. How to socialize and how to be a friend... How to be a friend to him. Which means fixing the problems you caused like with the Mavros, with his mentor whom you still have intense feelings of dislike for despite him telling you that the interactions were normal and that he trusted Leopold to not make up lies about him. It sounds like Adriel is aware of his faults, and it also looked like he was trying his best not to lash out at you despite how angry, scared, and hurt he was. If I were to guess, he was scared for you about your ignorance and was worried more people like Christos would hurt you, he was scared for his team if you actually got to enact your curse plan, and he was scared for himself because you distract him when you won't get along with him or with others despite being in a dangerous situation." Healer Vita tapped the emotion wheel flyer with a finger. "Let's talk about your feelings from today, too," she said. "I think it is important for you to start identifying which ones are the corrupt ones... I am sure you noticed the difference between your first time angry and the curse time angry. And that is just the residue angry! When you can recognize your own feelings, it will be harder for an external thing like residue to influence it. You will recognize what it is doing, and you can stop it. Every time you stop it, it weakens, and it will finally stop altogether. You have let far too many things control you in your life - it is time for you to take control of your life if you want good things like Adriel in your life. You obviously care greatly for him or you would not be this sad, and you don't want to give up, right?" |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2023 17:44:16 GMT
 Diomidis Hector Drimalia
Mayor of Naxos City (Chora)
Age 46
School - BeauxbatonDiomidis (Dio to his friends, Mr. Drimalia to everyone else) grew up in a family steeped with ancient Naxian legends and traditions. Georgios, his father, was mayor, and they were very surprised when he got a letter in the mail on his tenth birthday inviting him to Beauxbaton for eight years of magical schooling. Until that point, his powers had been a family secret - accidental magic that was not very accidental - and the oligarch heads had all known about it. They had thought he was a sign of the Old Religion from the family legends coming back to life after centuries of no priests being born. He attended Beauxbatons to attempt to learn more about the heritage since surely a secret magical society would know something about ancient Greek traditions. It was a French school that knew some magical history, but there was nothing about the Cave of Za on Mount Zax or the Kakó Spílaio on Mount Kóronos. Or rather, there were things on both caves, but only what everyone else, including the non-magicals, knew. Even mentions of the ancient oligarchy was scarce and spoke of as though it was ancient family. Dio was glad that he had not mentioned at all to anyone about the family stories before he started searching the libraries out of caution. His father and grandfather knew about his magic but... The rest of the families had had their memories wiped of his accidental magic. That had been terrifying to the Drimalia family, and they were very heavily warned to never let anyone know or they would be penalized to the fullest extent of the Statute of Secrecy law by the Greek ministry. So the Drimalia family enacted the protocols to indicate that there was an outside government force interfering in oligarchy business. Dio studied magic and learned while his father campaigned for and got the mayor status from the Pavlapoulos family. The Pavlapoulos or their branch controlled Chora when the town was prospering with merchants since they had an affinity for numbers, the Manolas controlled it when there was battle on the horizon (which there was, but Naxos didn't need to be involved in it), and the Drimalia dove in where there was convoluted politics involved since they were charismatic. The Kambanellis controlled information going in and out of the island, and the Dellarokas were the ones that soothed the community and kept things organized. They couldn't talk about magic, but they could hint that there was something very very wrong, and the other families fell in as support as they prepared for an unknown enemy. Dio graduated Beauxbatons with good grades, but not great. He had a good reputation, but not a great one. Just a little above average was what he went for as his grandfather had told him to do, and then he went on to study history at the British School at Athens - a school that specialized in ancient Greece. It gave him access to the largest ancient Greek library in Greece along with the magical library in Athena and the other BSA library in Crete... And still he found nothing. Or rather, he found the Magical Intelligence Service (MIS) starting to stalk him, so he quietly finished up a bachelor's degree and went back home to Naxos. From there, he visited the Cave of Za and the Bad Cave a few times before he found that he was trailed to both locations, so he started leaving it alone. He got married to a smart Naxian woman instead and started up a family while he learned politics from his father and grandfather. Occasionally, he would get an owl from an old school 'friend' asking him why he didn't join the ministry if he was so interested in politics, but Dio had only a few magical friends and the people asking were not them - they were former classmates he did not socialize with, and some were even a few years apart and the only thing they had in common was that they had attended Beauxbatons and were Greek. Dio very much kept away from the magical places after that. His two oldest sons had been home schooled in magic by him while they attended non-magical schools, and when he wasn't able to, he hired one of the few friends he trusted that could teach the subjects he was not great at or did not have time for since he was starting his career as a department head for the cultural heritage of the Cyclades artifacts. So much had already been stolen, and it was impossible to prevent more from being taken by grave robbers on other islands to sell, so he was forced to open up a lot of archeological sites so that things could be legitimately researched and Greece could keep some things at least. Naxos itself was held down tight by the oligarchy despite the District being a large security hole, but the magicals were not very interested in Naxos since most did not know the legends he knew of how magical the island was. The Ministry suspected, but since Dio kept his head down, they stopped following him as the years passed. His eldest was being groomed for the position of figuring out how to open up either one of the ancient caves when the Great War struck. His son was drafted, and Dio grieved hard when he got a letter in the mail about how he had perished in the line of duty and his body was not recovered as it was lost to the sea. His second eldest was then groomed for the position, and he sent Leon to the Manolas for paramilitary duty since that would keep him from being conscripted if he was already in a 'military force' if there was another war one day. He was planning on looking for a witch outside of Greece to marry Leon off to so any magical children from that union could also be trained that they might be able to figure out knowledge that was lost centuries ago because of the Ottomans. Diomidis Hector Drimalia, now the mayor of Chora while his older son runs the non-magical office for cultural artifacts, currently dislikes the magical government with a passion. He has heard from the council about the two foreign men that was given archeology permission, and Leon told him they were magical which has him very worried. Still, they were surely long gone by now - they only had to stop at the District for a couple days to restock, and then they were off to sea again according to Leon. Just passing by. So he put them out of mind and focused on running Chora since the changeover of governments from Ottoman/Turkey to Greece was a lot of paperwork and late nights at the office. **************************** Cave of Za Worship of the sky, clouds, heavens, and the elements therein (male) Kakó Spílaio AKA 'Bad Cave' Worship of the earth, underworld, plants, and therein (Female) The Aegean Sea The chaotic force that brought the sky and the earth together in the form of storms and the like. It was less worshipped and more 'appeased' so that trade routes and the like would be safe and rain would continue to join the two forces that kept Naxos safe and prosperous. All three were thought to be needed to promote fertility. (Neutral or third gender) Snakes were seen as fierce guardians while spiders were homemakers. Humans were the sacred animals of the Gods and tasked to give worship and take care of the holy island of Delos. Later on when the Greek Empire formed, the Bad Cave would be used to worship Pan while Za would be for Zeus, but the oligarchs more likened Za for Apollo and the lower cave for Artemis. Naxos led the Cyclades civilization, but it was imagined to be a ring of islands that surrounded Delos, the most holy island with Naxos the closest island to it. Much like the Naxians and their views on whatever empire was ruling over them, they also saw names like Zeus and the like to just be another passing fancy. Dionysus was the main god for the islanders, even going as far as opting for Pan at the 'Bad Cave' for his proximity to Dionysus. Further, Dionysus was also raised in the Cave of Za according to their own legends, so Zeus was more thought of as 'The father of Dionysus.' Still, the islanders let the cave stand in for Zeus while the locals celebrated offered wine to both caves in the name of Dionysus during the reign of the Greek Empire, and food and honey was given to all three with Poseidon and the Nymphs of Naxos and the Cyclades representing the sea. Silver Mavros - Main recruiter and diplomat - only Mavros that does wear a hat. Has to be highly proficient in defense and offense since a Silver is the only one whose identity is known. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2023 20:54:53 GMT
Art was exhausted after the ceremony... It had been so awful. He danced one dance with Marina since he had had to, then after that he had just stayed at the dinner table. That should have been a reprieve, but it wasn't - a lot of people had come to his table to ask about the scepter, about his clothes, about Marina, about the manticore, and even about his views on the current political climate of the non-magicals and how it might affect the ICW votes to get Grindelwald voted in. Him! As if he knew about politics like that! The worst thing about it was that Marina was supposed to have stayed to head all those people off, but she had moved off after he had ignored her overtures for conversation about Ancient Greece (which in hindsight would have been way better) and Adriel wasn't around either because he was dancing with... a lot of women. Rather than hang out with Art. Because they still had not reconciled at all. Adriel had rebuffed him right before the ceremony. He had thought maybe there was a chance since they both wore the pins, but Adriel said three days of trying to change did not rebuild trust after weeks of being yelled at and Art refusing to acknowledge any feelings unless things were dire. Art had asked others how to rebuild trust. The answers he got ranged from 'time' to 'sincerity' and only Gretel had gone into depth to tell him that sometimes it took completely stepping outside of his comfort zone to meet another person in theirs. Art did not understand that too well - he thought he had been stepping out of it, so he had talked to Healer Vita to ask her to clarify when he went for his Saturday evening appointment. Healer Vita had said while Art was making amends with relationships around him, he had to carefully think about what Adriel might consider an amend and the session was spend with Art writing a list of things that Adriel liked and disliked.
| Likes | Dislike | | Horses | Racism/Bigotry | | Cultures/fashion | Slavery | Runes, Glyphs, wards,
Cuneiform | Being blamed for other
people's crimes. | | Shiny colorful things | Cannibals | | Physical affection | rapists | | Hunting | Killing without need | | Ancient magic | ghosts/undead | | Teasing | Politics? | | Friends/Tribe/Family | Calling elves slaves | | Travel | | | History/archeology | |
He had mentioned foods, but Vita told him to focus on actions and the things Art actually thought of when he thought of Adriel, and that was what he had come up with. Then she asked him which one of those things were outside of his comfort zone and... It was everything except for the history parts. No, he also liked interesting things like the dancing statues and beads, so that could overlap for the 'shiny colorful things.' He could agree with the dislikes, though ghosts didn't bother him. He would definitely not want to come across a vampire or a mummy. That list gave him a point of understanding, however. Adriel had been very happy the times Art had seen people hug him and such. Even the... stuff Adriel did with his night partners made him happy. Or the time Art had checked out a library book for horses. And... The only times Art had touched Adriel was when one or the other was about to die and he was terrified for one of them. Art understood the theory of tactile people - it had been a little bit of something he had looked into when he realized his own aversion to touching was very extreme in comparison to everyone else. Touch was supposed to bring people closer and help them feel safe or make sure the other person was safe and... Touching Adriel actually had been that for him. The second half, anyway. He could see why Adriel said he was selfish when he considered it in that light - Art had only been touching for his own feelings and not for Adriel's feelings, and Adriel have given Art a lot of feelings and doing things for Art's feels. And touching for Adriel's feelings would definitely be outside Art's comfort zone. But Gretel had said sometimes stepping completely out of his to go into someone else's comfort zone was required. How was he supposed to touch Adriel when Adriel didn't want to be friends and was keeping physical distance between them. It wasn't like that before - Adriel used to hover pretty close. Just right outside of Art's comfort zone, close enough to reach out and save if needed, and he had always been available. Now it was the opposite - even if Adriel stayed within grabbing distance when he was on guard duty, he shifted away from Art. He would disappear as soon as Art was in a 'safe' area. He performed his job, but no more than that. And he didn't talk to Art outside of work much at all anymore - not to ask questions like what food they might want to eat together, if Art was interesting in seeing or doing something, and even the reminders about his hat and stuff was more about his safety than it was about genuine feelings. There was a chasm there that Art wasn't sure at all how to cross so he could touch Adriel since Adriel did not want anything colorful and shiny from him nor did he want apologies, words, or anything else. Touch really was the only thing on that list since Art didn't know how to hunt, could not ride horses, or really do anything else on that list. At the same time, he couldn't just walk up and touch Adriel because of the distance the other man was deliberately maintaining. He also doubted a casual pat on the arm would do anything, and Art didn't know how to do that anyway. Then it hit him: Sepia had just outright asked to brush Adriel's hair. Maybe he could try something like that! Not that he saw Adriel Saturday night. Not at all. He had not been on the boat, nor had he stepped into the hotel room since wednesday, so Art had to wait for Sunday with the raising of the town. But that French guy was there along with Adriel's grandparents, and the blond was very very intimidating though his own mom seemed to be a little dazzled by him since she had 'never taken tea with a noble before.' Art had actually not been aware that the blonde guy that all but draped himself on Adriel was a noble, and it made him wonder again why Adriel had wanted to be friends in the first place if he was close to beautiful people like that. He almost gave up at that point and stopped paying attention to things... Until suddenly there was a black swarm of stuff coming right for him. Everything that had been in his little town was suddenly scrambling out! Crabs, bugs, birds, rabbits, snakes, scorpions... EVERYTHING! It was so terrifying to see a swarm of flapping biting stinging things that were looking at him like he was an all-you-can-eat-buffART, and he wondered which ones would get to his liver first. Then Adriel was over him, there was the glimmer of several shields all around, Art realized he was on his back and staring up at Adriel who was turned to watch things crawl and scuttle around the shield that was over them, and then he was blinded by the fall of Adriel's long hair landing on his face. Thank goodness, too... He would rather have the soft and nice smelling hair obscuring his sight than pay attention to whatever it was swarming over them. It was eternity in the blink of an eye when light filtered back in. Adriel was saying something, but Art wasn't paying attention whatsoever to the outside world. Well, he wasn't anyway until Adriel's hair was off his face, and his friend was turned away to leave, and Art was suddenly on him sobbing and apologizing again even though he knew Adriel didn't want to hear his apologies so he was apologizing for that as well and he promised promised promised that he actually wanted to touch Adriel more and didn't know how to say so and this wasn't because he had almost been devoured by every creature in Greece and that he had no other way to convey how sincere he was that he was going to stop being selfish and care more and try to meet Adriel in his comfort zones also. The good thing was that he could feel how Adriel had shifted a little bit towards him, though that was hard to do since Art was clinging to his back and sobbing against his upper arm. The bad thing was that Adriel felt very stiff under him and there was still that chasm there. "Tell me what I can do to prove it!" Art cried, not wanting to let go since he felt like if he did, he would never be able to get to touch Adriel again. "Kiss him like the French do," Art heard Adriel's friend say. "Antoine," Adriel sighed, but Art didn't let him get further than that. Fine, he had to kiss Adriel like Antoine did? He would prove how sincere he was! Art surged up and pressed his mouth against Adriel's so hard that it kind of hurt when his own teeth dug in to his lips, and since Adriel's mouth had been open to talk, it was easy to push his tongue in like he had also seen Antoine doing. It was warm, wet, and he could taste apples on Adriel's tongue, and it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. Actually, it felt kind of nice with how his stomach tingled a bit, but before he could figure out what he was supposed to do next, he felt himself getting lifted up by Adriel so their mouths came apart and he made a sound of protest and was about to apologize again since he apparently even messed up a kiss enough for Adriel to stop it. "That wasn't what he meant, Art," Adriel sighed as he set him down. Art realized there was giggling, and he looked over to see Adriel's grandmother was giggling like a schoolgirl that just witness something naughty, and he turned beet red when he remembered his own parents were also here and... Everyone else was staring at him in shock including his mom and dad. "He meant the cheek kissing greeting. Don't glare at him like that, mon chéri, it was your idea in the first place." Art peeked over and saw that Antoine was glaring at him, but his attention turned to Art again as he sighed. "Though the kiss definitely conveyed sincerity so... I believe you, Art. Just stick with hugs though, you don't have to kiss me." Art threw himself against Adriel again to hug him as tightly as he hugged Mr. Bear. Adriel also hugged him, too, and it was the first time Art got a hug that he liked, and it made the hug better than the ones he gave to Mr. Bear. He had his friend back! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2023 7:01:20 GMT
Art was escorted back to the hotel by Beige and Gretel, and Gretel continued on to the shopping area with a final farewell before he thanked the bearded mavros and turned to go his room and shower. The day had been awful, and it still wasn't over, but he was hopeful that Adriel's earlier offer of a truce for the night might give him an opportunity to make amends for things. Once he got into the shower and was able to wash the sweat off though, he was reminded that Adriel said it was a truce for the night because of business which meant... Adriel probably didn't have faith that he wouldn't do something to mess this up, too.
After all, Adriel had told him to just let him do all the talking. And told him what to dress in.
By the time he was dressed and heading for therapy (pinstripe suit since maybe Adriel would be happy to see him in that since he did say he wasn't a fan of tweed), he was feeling down again and figuring he was just not meant to have friends. Maybe he had done something in his past life that made people hate him.
What did it mean to work for it? Adriel had said he had to work for it if he wanted friendship, but he didn't understand. Just like he didn't understand why he needed manners or fashion or even that talk that Adriel had tried to give him even though he said no to all of it. He didn't need any of it even if Adriel said he did! He had gotten by just fine without it until...
Well, until he finally wanted a friend.
He kicked a fallen grape stem on the road to the medical court and realized that Beige was next to him again. "I can get there fine," he mumbled with a frown.
"Adriel insisted that I or someone else that can keep you safe be the one to watch over you while you are in Demeter," Beige explained in the same even and patient tone he always used. "You are also distracted so it is better to have someone watch your back anyway."
Art looked back down at the ground as he scowled. Adriel was still... Like the hat. And lip balm. Which he forgot after the shower. Just like he forgot to put on his hat after Adriel was gone. It didn't make sense and he didn't understand why Adriel was even bothering since it wasn't like the hat or lip balm was part of bodyguard duties. Beige kind of was... But he didn't have to trade Sepia out for him. "Sepia asked him?" he asked without looking up, figuring that was why there was a change. She didn't want to watch over him.
"No, Adriel said he did not trust her to watch out over you," Beige corrected. Normally not something he would share, but he could hear the hurt tremor in Art's voice. He thought Art might be upset that she was rejecting him. "It was also before the apologies you both made to each other - around lunch time."
Art didn't want to go to therapy at all now... He just wanted to cry. Again. But no, if Adriel was throwing him away, he didn't deserve his tears! Was he really throwing him away, though? Art felt safest with Beige out of all the Mavros. And there was the lip balm and hat. And... He actually had a nice suit to meet the mayor of Naxos in rather than a second hand suit meant more for Sunday sermons.
He wasn't allowed to skip therapy though, and before he knew it, he was in front of the building.
"I'll wait out here until Adriel shows up," Beige said with a nod.
Art nodded back, then trudged into the mind healer clinic. It was a terrible session because Healer Vita pulled up every one of their arguments. She pulled up when Art got angry and when Adriel got angry and... Well, the curse had apparently made him a very angry person. Art being stubborn also meant he ignored Adriel's 'no' just like Adriel had ignored his earlier that day... The first time Adriel had actually ignored a no from him. But he said he needed to know those things for his own safety and to stop making assumptions about what was not dangerous. And he only got graphic when Art had refused to answer anything and had warned prior that he would.
It reminded Art of the cave incident earlier that day when Adriel was asking for luck and how he told Art that his 'goodbyes' sucked. That he would regret his last words if he said those things and lost someone because he would have wished he had said something different. He very much regretted talking to Adriel like he was an irreplaceable worker, and he regretted snapping at Adriel at the fountain like he was a boss. Adriel had told him later in the boat that Art was right about him being out of line, apologized for it, then reprimanded him in a professional way and banned him from the cave. And he looked... Well, if Art had to put a description to it, he was no longer open with Art. There was no smiles or anything, and that also reminded him of Sepia asking him how Art managed to get real smiles from Adriel when he gave most people fake smiles.
And thinking back to the trail, he could understand that. Adriel had been smiling, but it was no longer the smiles that were inviting and warm. That had let Art know he was a friend. He was so deep in his own self flagellation about messing up his first real friendship that he didn't realize Healer Vita had been calling his name several times.
"If I were to hazard a guess, he wants to see your real smiles aimed at him," Healer Vita said since she had been in his mind when it started spiraling. "He wants you to confess your positive feelings for him rather than withdraw behind anger, sadness, and other negative ones. He wants you to stop apologizing because you don't need to apologize anymore, specifically for yelling at him, but also for the things he also asks you to stop over. If you were to ask him, he would probably say he doesn't want a friendship based off of anger and trauma, but rather one based off of happiness and trust. He is not a mind healer so he cannot get you through trauma and doesn't seem to like to be the target of your trauma, but I can and so can other good mind healers though you should never just settle with the first one you see. Always find one you are comfortable talking to." She paused to give Art an encouraging smile. "He does seem to want to be your friend though. He is said you need to show him happiness and joy. Give him reasons to trust you rather than making only him constantly have to try to work for your trust. It takes work - it seems like he has worked hard to get you to trust him, to get you to be happy around him, and he wants to also see you work for your friendship that way. I know, and you know, that you were just starting to try to change, but he doesn't know that. The only way he can see that is if you continue to try and not give up even when he is trying to stay away from you like how you were staying away from him by keeping him at arm's length emotionally. So just keep working on your emotion wheel, think about what he has done for you, and see what things made you feel good on the emotion wheel and keep trying to reach out to him. You can be a lovable person, and I am sure that is what he sees in you even if the curse and then the anger and the guilt after made it hard. I suggest you ask him yourself if he thought you were a lovable person, or you can ask him why he even wanted to be friends with you in the first place."
Art didn't think he was a lovable person, but everything else she said made sense. And Adriel did tell him that he needed to learn about him. He could at least ask Adriel why he had wanted to be friends since it would be a good starting point for him to start learning about Adriel and seeing if maybe he could fix things like Healer Vita was saying. She made it sound easy but... He grimaced as he realized he had not been making it easy at all for Adriel to be friends with him. He didn't think Adriel would make it as hard as he had made it, and Adriel had been trying to be friends with him at his worst for weeks so...
Once he got outside, he sat down at the bench. Beige was standing under the tree and had nodded at him in greeting before he resumed his watch, and Art waited only for ten minutes before Adriel came out. Not that he looked at Adriel, nor did he know he was there until Adriel was standing behind him.
"Sorry, I couldn't remember which box the hair pins I wanted was in," Adriel said to announce his presence. "Ready to go?"
"Why did you want to be friends with me in the first place?" Art asked without looking back. His hands in his lap was the most fascinating thing to him at the moment. "And continued to try to be my friend even though I was... not a very nice person?"
Art was not sure if Adriel was going to reply at all when there was no immediate answer, and when the silence stretched out to half a minute, he was about to say nevermind when Adriel finally spoke up. "You were brilliant and naive at the same time, but also very lonely," he said. "Confident in your intelligence but nothing else. Socially stunted to a crippling degree, and I thought maybe if I reached out, it might be the stepping stone you needed to be more than just your intelligence. Your eyes were also very sad at times, but you had a fierce determination to learn even if it hurt. Then there was the fact that it was going to be only the two of us on a potentially long expedition, and there needed to be trust. I figured friendship would not hurt or cause problems since I thought you would be as determined with it as you were with learning to ride a horse." All of that was delivered in a tone that was like a recital of facts. "Are you ready to go now? Remember, the mayor will probably be angry at first so just let me handle that part."
Art clenched his jaw since yes, he knew the mayor would be mad, and yes, he knew he should keep his mouth shut for it since he didn't know anything about socializing with people. And because of that, he was dragging Adriel down and making him do all the hard work again. "I am ready," he said with determination. Because despite Adriel's lack of confidence in him now, Adriel had said he had been a lot more confident in him before. That no matter how much learning to ride hurt, he kept trying. He could do that with the friendship, too. He was determined to try. No, not try... He would succeed just like he succeeded in learning how to ride a horse even without a saddle.
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 25, 2023 4:30:14 GMT
Art blushed as Maroon mentioned the woman's chests being out in Minoan civilazation. He did not know that. He looked down though, he probably wasn't going to get to see Knossos. He nodded though, he did need to be protected from the evil pigeons! He nodded at Beige when he came over and then looked at Gretel "He is a bit... uh unhygenic." he commented. He nodded a bit "You have a point" he agreed about Maroon trying to amulate him. He then left with Beige, and headed to the hotel. He thanked Beige and then headed up to his room. He was glad to see that the hammock was taken care of and gone from his room. He picked out a suit that they had picked out in Aphrodite. ONce the outfit was picked he showered and then got dressed. He checked the time and frowned, almost six. He did not want to go to the mind healer. He sighed and headed out, leaving Mr. Bear on the bed sadly since he was going straight from the appointment to the Mayor. And frowned, he really forgot how much hotter a suit was here. He walked to his appointment. He got to the clinic and sat down in the waiting room after checking in. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2023 4:41:17 GMT
Healer Vita left her office to collect Art and smiled at him when she saw him. She realized that Adriel was not around, and the other man usually was there which was a bit strange. Art looked very unhappy as he sat there alone. "Good evening, Art," she greeted with a smile. "Let's go in the room, shall we?" She led the way to her office and took her seat, then waited until Art was settled down before she gave him another smile. "I see you didn't bring your friend," she remarked. The blanket and bear had become so customary during these appointments that Art without any of his usual comfort items or person had her a bit alarmed. "Both Adriel and Mr. Bear are not here with you today which is a little unusual. You are dressed very nicely, however. How are you feeling? Did you study the emotion wheel further last night for homework?" |
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 25, 2023 4:50:16 GMT
Art looked up at Healer vita with a frown but got up and followed her and sat down in his usual spot. He frowned when she mentioned his 'friend' wasn't there. And Mr. Bear wasn't there. "I didn't get a chance to last night" he said honestly about the emotion wheel. However he said nothing about Adriel or Mr. Bear.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2023 4:54:53 GMT
Healer Vita nodded at Art's reply and gave him a reassuring smile. "I understand you are a busy man," she said in a kind tone. "It is very important to study if you wish to break free from the curse's influence, however. You seem very unhappy today though you left my office yesterday looking better." She paused to pull out the flyer and placed it on her desk with another smile at Art. "Did something happen today? Remember that this is a safe place, and you can speak about anything even if you normally would not talk about things."
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 25, 2023 5:26:20 GMT
Art nodded when she said he was busy. He did want to break free from the curse's influence. He just hadn't had time last night. Art frowned. He didn't want to be here or talk about today. He really was only here because he had to be. "I'm fine" he insisted.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2023 5:31:23 GMT
Healer Vita wondered how a person could frown and insist they are fine at the same time. Still, one should never try to force a patient into talking. She smiled at Art and nodded again.
"So how was your day today, Art?" she asked again in a friendly tone. "I am going to guess it is not quite done yet since you are dressed up very nice. Is that why Mr. Bear and Adriel is also not here right now?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2023 7:19:21 GMT
How Art seemed to me when we were initially planning and RPing
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| Librarian |
| | | Good | Traits | Neutral traits | Bad | Traits | | Intelligent | Archivist | Thick Skinned | Socially awkward | Weak | | Focus | Historian | Learns for survival | Aloof | Fear of animals | | Goal-Oriented | Ancient Languages | Not used to touch | Withdraws | Fear of physical pain | | Bookworm | Cartographer | Slight aversion to touch | Low expectations | | | Determined | | No relationship exp | Low self esteem
| | | Independent | | Aversion to crowds |
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| | Professional | | |
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- Anger
- Depression
- Thin skinned/very sensitive
- Quickly concedes his hard earned independence
- Refuses to take responsibility unless forced
- Immature
- Does not consider other people's feelings or boundaries
- Does not think about his own actions or consequences
- Have to use kid's gloves on him
- Gullibly naive
Extra unexpected positive bits- Sweet and innocent
- Excitability
- Picks up certain types of trust quickly
- Can be hawt
- Adorkable
- Eager to explore
- Willing to try things if he feels safe
- Blushes. All the blushing.
- Really does want friends deep down inside
- Some animals absolutely love him and he is still terrified of them
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 25, 2023 7:34:46 GMT
Art frowned when she asked how his day was. And then again brought up Mr. Bear and Adriel not being there. "I have somewhere important to be after this and Mr. Bear can not come" he said simply. Well, in theory of course he could bring Mr. Bear. But he doubted the mayor would take them seriously if he sat there holding a bear while Adriel talked.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2023 7:58:05 GMT
Healer Vita gave Art a patient smile once more and folded her hands on top of her desk. Art's answers were exceptionally short and were leaving nothing for her to work with to try to get him to open up properly. Things were about as bad as when Art had first started coming - worse in some ways since he had seemed like he was willing to try after the last session. "Are you still uncomfortable with mind healing?" she asked in a gentle and non-judgemental tone. "Or perhaps it is me? Would you prefer a different mind healer? It is okay if your discomfort stems from me - you should always choose a mind healer you are comfortable with since it already is an uncomfortable thing to do until you adjust to it. However, opening up during your sessions is very important or we will not be able to make progress. You are here to heal, after all, and when it comes to the mind, it isn't as simple as a potion or a healing charm. Part of what makes curse residues linger is that the victim themselves can't let go of the negativity behind them, and that is what these sessions are for. Ah... You might think about it like how some Azkaban prisoners are never the same again after. A barbaric and cursed place, and while some people eventually recover, others can't because they have gotten so used to that cursed feeling that it remains with them."
She gave Art a gentle smile again. "Or I could conjure up a blanket for you if that is what you need?" she offered. "We could also have tea and adjourn to the couches on the side rather than these chairs so it feels more like a regular conversation. Remember, this is a safe place, and I will not judge you. I am here to listen to you, then help guide you so that your mind, feelings, and life no longer feels confused and out of control. Part of that is identifying the emotions, but you also need to speak about the things that are bothering you. Or things that make you happy! Anything that you can be open and honest about, but only if you are willing to speak with me. If you prefer a man, or someone younger or older or of a lighter skin color, then please let me know and I can call a colleague to take over instead."
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 25, 2023 23:19:56 GMT
Why Art doesn't want to talk:
Not in the mood to be at the Mind Healer's
Doesn't like to talk about his feelings
[Why Art would want to talk:
He knows he needs to heal
he has a legit confidant who can't say shit to anyone
So we can RP again XD
Needs to be cleared to be able to continue their expedition.
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Post by lilgiastar on Aug 26, 2023 2:14:40 GMT
What Art was initially supposed to be:
Intelligent
Archivist
Cartographer
Librarian
Ancient Language Specialist
Focused
Determined
Goal Oriented
Professional/ Professionally focused
Aloof
Socially Awkward
Low Self Esteem
Quite but excitable
Bookworm
Withdraws
What Art is now:
Intelligent
Archivist
Cartographer
Librarian
Ancient Language Specialist
Bookworm
Socially Awkward
Low Self Esteem
Absolutely terrified of animals/ being eaten
Unhappy but happy around Adriel
Enjoys telling stories
Quite but excitable
Dark humor/ Doesn't laugh a lot
Doesn't understand some things likes teasing
Doesn't smile
Takes a long time to open up
Doesn't like his family / get along with his family
Really does want friends deep down inside / is lonely
Is a bit of a hopeless romantic
Doesn't like meeting new people/ being around a lot of people
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2023 3:26:36 GMT
List of things I see as problems for the plot and why
Not understanding the basics of society
---A person who cannot understand things like why manners are needed in certain situations or how their own personality is very rude, abrupt, and abrasive is not a person meant to RP in a world situation where socializing and interacting with various people is required. This goes double if they are so bad at it that they offend other people's own characters.
Back to back drama issues
---As soon as one 'Art problem' is solved, another crops up. This causes a story to focus on one character's problems and derails the story itself. When there are multiple people, it can be mitigated, however it does ruin the fun if it happens when there is already an ongoing story or it is consistent.
Problems have to be solved by others
---Art is intelligent and indpendent. There is a huge difference between 'socially awkward and low DADA ability' to 'always a victim/is a walking target/cannot solve things.'
Purity
---This is the term for when a character is so 'pure' that they are completely ignorant of negative things and such. At the beginning of the RP, Art did have a few dirty thoughts, but nowadays he acts more chaste than a nun in charge of a convent of chastity and is so ignorant about anything of the flesh that everything is shocking.
Empathy
---A character without empathy is a character that cannot or will not relate with or understand any other character. They are not team players, they are selfish, and they are super self absorbed. IRL, nobody wants to be around someone like that for long period.
Pushes away/brushes everyone off
---Even those that are considered friends can be treated like this. When a person is constantly brushed off or pushed away, they stop wanting to try. This is where Adriel is at the moment.
Modesty
---There is a difference between being demure or humble, and completely ignoring, not believing, or getting offended when someone gives a character compliment. It starts becoming a game of 'fishing for compliments' or constantly having to reassure. This is fine in small and genuine doses, but when a character is doing this over and over, it again puts all the focus into a 'wounded bird' syndrome where said 'baby bird' is never getting healed and is just continually getting attention. It is a trait to avoid altogether unless people agree that they want this type of hurt/comfort kind of RP.
Refusing to learn/makes the same mistakes
=== This is probably the biggest issue with Art. Again, he is an intelligent person. He should not have to have the minutest thing explained to him like he is mentally handicapped. He should not keep repeating the same mistakes over and over (In this case, yelling at Adriel and ignoring his boundaries), especially when it has been so clearly and explicitly stated to that character over and over again.
Tragic Backstory
---Art was bullied and saw some shit things. His back story should not keep overshadowing the whole story or other people's back stories. Adriel has dealt with genocide and watching his own culture continually being attacked. He does not make this Art's problem except under his boundary of not disrespecting other cultures which should be a given if you are in another country or around different people. Art should be able to empathize with that to a degree as well since he also deals with racism and getting looks of disgust if he spoke Spanish (you mentioned his mouth got washed out with soap - something I don't really see happening in a British school since Spain is nearby but eh). The backstory I write for Adriel is based off a lot of studying of and even reading blogs to people who those things happened to with the Navajo people and are not 'tragic things' I just pile on his past.
There are many types of Mary Sue characters, and Art is not the typical 'Princess Barbie Saves the World By Smiling and Dressing Nice' type of Mary Sue. I would call him an Anti-Mary Sue where he has so many non-Mary Sue qualities piled on him that it turns him into the opposite type of character of a Princess Barbie. Mind, there is nothing wrong with a Princess Barbie and there is nothing wrong with an Anti-Mary Sue, Antagonistic Mary Sue, or Angsty Mary Sue, but again, that is for that type of RP when people agree that is what the main focus is going to be.
On an adventure quest, we need:
-Someone who can at least function on a team without offending everyone
-Competence with more than just one or two things. He has not been showing much of any competence.
===Art is intelligent. He shines with research. He has a perfect opportunity even
now to progress Atlantis or the Cave. He has been sulking, getting angry,
and has made zero progress with both. This is doing his character a disservice.
===Art is picking up Modern Greek at a 'Mary Sue' pace, but I honestly don't
care about that. However this has been the only real show of his intelligence if
you don't count finding Atlantis.
===Even if he isn't competent, he should not be mentally handicapped level of incompetent.
He's acting more like an idiot savant or severe Asperger's wherein his focus is only
ancient history and he keeps throwing a tantrum. Someone with that type of disability
cannot lead an expedition.
-A character that can adapt and has some flexibility. There should be some hard and firm 'no' like what Adriel has - he won't be treated like shit and he won't tolerate seeing others being treated like shit since everything has the right to live. He won't tolerate cannibalism or rape and such.
===A firm no should be things that can work with a group. If it doesn't work with the RP
group, then there should be flexibility with a no. Such as if you are playing a holy
paladin warrior of honesty and truth, and the other person is an thief who the paladin
is trying to reform. No, he isn't allowed to steal, and every time he does, he get punished
with chores like scooping up the horse poo while they travel. But then there is an evil
criminal who takes a baby hostage, the paladin doesn't dare to attack, and the thief is
so good that he is able to sneak up and steal the baby. He shouldn't get punished for it
despite the fact that he used 'sneaky' and 'thieving' skills to accomplish it.
-A character that can at least get along with the other player character(s) and develop healthy relationships unless it is discussed prior that an antagonistic one is preferred. They don't have to be best buds or anything, but there needs to at least be the ability to work together without one character making the other(s) drop everything and have to hare off to save/stop/soothe one character over and over.
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