beingdifferent: (self-image)
Esther Coleman ([personal profile] beingdifferent) wrote2014-02-27 12:19 am

Twelfth little lie ♰ And she smiles and she says "This is it, that's the end of the joke"

[Floods, breaches, and the like don't usually affect Esther too badly. They're strange, they're sometimes horrifying, but she can let them wash past her, secure in the knowledge that they aren't her, that they're only some fleeting impression of energy or dimension. She can usually let them go, and let the people she could have been fade away easily.

In her seven months on board there have been two events she can't easily brush off: the mirror Barge and this one. The mirror dimension's mystique was simple enough; she'd had authority, power, confidence, a measure of safety and camaraderie, and a pang of longing still hit her every time she thought of it. But this last one, when she'd been pushed forward into her future self (a future self, she amended, one that may well never come to fruition), she had been functional. Acceptable, if not normal.

No matter what magics the Admiral might be capable of working, normal could never happen.

There had been inspiration drawn from the flood, Esther understood, but how, she didn't know. Ned had been undead, cold and ready to kill, for God's sake, all for the irritating so-called king who attempted to exert his power over the passengers; Chris (although she suspects he'll never speak to her civilly again) had been terrified and lost; she'd been shown a lie, something that could never be realized. The memories and lessons she learned in that state do not take hold. When she reviews them she feels nothing but doubt, crippling disbelief and self-pity. She cannot survive as a woman, she is well aware. She cannot be the woman the Admiral's shown her - she can't be one at all.

It never works.
]

[Private; Rorschach]
Can we please ensure any training sessions take place in a private space?

[Private; Jean]
What is wrong with me?

[Public]
There is much said on this ship about redemption, about second chances, and about forgiveness. It's also been said that some on board deserve none of these things. What makes a person worthy of this consideration? What quality makes them worthwhile? Is it merely their willingness to change or is it something else, some buried trait that gives them their worth?
routemistress: (Default)

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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-27 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
In what way does it not make sense? No other person in existence has your specific combination of genes, cells, thoughts, memories and lived experience. You are unique and miraculous and precious.

So's everyone else, but that does nothing to decrease your value. This boat loved you enough to snatch you from your death so she could save you. Now it's for you to decide what shape that takes.
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-27 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
She does, though. I can feel it in every breath of her journey. What makes you think she chose badly?
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
What Bond did to you was shitty. So was what you did to Ellie. Did it get either of you anything you wanted?
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
Were the previous attempts any more successful? Did anyone put much effort into healing you before the barge?
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
The same applies to most of our inmates, darling. I can't share details from Victor's file for obvious reasons, but... there are strands in common. No one else in his family came with claws and fangs.

You seen him lately? I know you two were starting to be friends.
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Still want to come hunting?
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Ha, I already slow him down. What we tend to do is circle different directions so I can flush game towards him, wolfpack style. We do all right. You should come.
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[personal profile] routemistress 2014-02-28 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
I'll knock next time we're going.