A Being of Duality (OTA)

[blindwatchersees]

Who: Sheogorath and YOU!
What: Life on the ship, feeling the fallout of the past month, one for being generally aware of the emotional aura of the ship in the aftermath of Valdis' murder
When: October 1st onward
Where: Various
Warnings: Discussions of murder; likely discussions of grief, depression, violence; reflection on loss of memory/identity; overall a darker tone to start the month (though there is one light one in here)

My Future Seems Like One Big Past [various, stern of ship]

It seems like the stern is the part of the ship he reserves for the emotions that are too big for him to keep inside his skin. Though perhaps that's not entirely a correct assessment, as he's keeping to a humanoid form as he scratches images of birds into the deck with the sharpened end of a pool net handle. Every so often, he stops, looks up at the sky, and shakes his head.

Its one of those days where he can feel another god's skin inside his own... or perhaps outside of him, and he's the one crawling around in the dead skin. Memories and feelings that aren't his hammer at the mausoleum door like a throng of the dead, driven single-mindedly to escape and feed. But Sheogorath is nothing if not a well-constructed prison for such things.

They rattle the bars and claw at the doors but the only thing that slips through is a wistful thought and a craving for emotional catharsis.

"Tell me," he asks, out of the blue, "Does it ever rain, here? Does the wind ever howl, of its own accord?"



It's the Only Thing That Slowly Stops the Ache [various, response to Valdis' murder]

He notices the change in the mood on board, but he doesn't know why. The anger, the grief, the pain, all of that reaches him through the filter of madness; loss of control, overwhelming emotional, seeing red or white or flashing lights.

The question arises: does he help to cultivate those emotions, or does he treat them? Certainly, he has the power to do both. In the short term, it would be kinder to ease their pain, but what had that Being of Order said? The ship runs on misery, runs on pain, runs on hurt. He was almost definitely summoned here for those purposes. Would it be better, to unleash one great and terrible burst of pain, one that could sustain the ship for a long time, and feed his Sphere as well?

Perhaps the mindset of the next person he speaks to will sway him, one way or the other.

Leave Me All In Pieces [Outside Stellar]

With all the chaos on board, it becomes better for him to be many things. He settles into a fungal grotto outside his usual place, in the entryway of the Stellar. More fruiting bodies are sprouting from him than is typical, each one like a tiny ear and a tiny brain, processing the ambient chaos. That isn't to say he won't form a mouth and try to converse with someone if they come closer.



Put Me Back Together [The Laundry Room]
As much as it's nice to have all this free real estate madness floating around, it almost makes him start to feel uncomfortable, like when you get sweaty and bloated after eating a meal that's way to big and way too rich. The solution?
Cat's going for a ride in the washing machine to get himself cleaned up.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

It's going to be hard for anyone in the facilities not to notice the sound or the smell of hot, wet cat.

Sheo doesn't care though, he's having a great ride.



Tell Me Reality is Better Than the Dream [Promenade]

At some point, Sheogorath has managed to set up an entire tea party in the middle of the Promenade, long tables made by pushing together shorter ones and covering them with a tablecloth. The tables are laden with everything he deigned to scrounge up from the shops and the restaurants. He's sitting at the end of the table, leaning back in the most ostentatious chair he can find, with his feet up on the table.

If, at some point, you decide to sit down and join him, he'll greet you with, "Good mornoonafterneevening. I'm not sure whether to pour you tea or cut you apart! Which shall it be? Cake or death?"

I Guess I'll Save the Best for Last [Wildcard]

(Despite the gloomy tone of these, I'm absolutely up for silliness and cosmic weirdness, reading the recap of the Valdis incident has just put me in a mood. HMU on Discord- you know who you are ;) )

Comments

[knotawolf]

Oh he's a fan of the word 'squishening'. He's going to use that later on. "If are different to everyone, then who are when are alone?"

Because now he's wondering if he even exists when someone isn't looking at him, like the reverse of some of the forest cryptids he knows where they only exist in the periphery of vision and stop existing entirely when looked at directly.

"Can be a whole bird? Want that!" He's almost so eager for this he's forgetting that this was predicated on him showing Sheo something fun.

[blindwatchersees]

"By myself, I'm my own Sheogorath. I'm me and myself. And even I'm not sure of what that is. Which is a struggle a lot of people have. It's a rare and wonderful thing, to really know who you are."

"And I can absolutely make you a bird. An eagle, a songbird, a flamingo, whatever you'd like, but first you need to do your part of the deal. Show me something fun, Yufei."

[knotawolf]

He nods and without another word he turns on his heel and heads down the deck, up another level and looks over the rail at the pool below.

Pointing down at the pool he grins, "Look. Watch."

Aaaaaand he vaults over the rail and splashes down into the pool below. It's a pretty far drop, and he's not really aware that it would probably be dangerous for a human to do this.

[blindwatchersees]

Oh, that does look fun. He bounds along the deck on all fours, somewhere between man and cat, before bounding over the railing and corkscrewing downwards as a pinwheel of prismatic mist. When he lands with a splash, the water glows and shimmers in every color, and bubbles of laughter well up from the depths.

[knotawolf]

He's pulled himself partially out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool and watch as the person he was talking to turns into some sort of fog before hitting the water. That's not entirely unexpected as Nimona had turned into pink sparkly fire when she jumped into the hot tub.

Yufei laughs along with the water, reaching out to poke one of the bubbles and see if it'll pop.

[blindwatchersees]

The bubbles dance and sing with memories of babbling brooks and melodies of mockingbirds. Eventually he floats to the surface as a froth and a form, taking a humanoid shape once again and lying on the surface of the water, looking blissfully contended.

[knotawolf]

"Is fun yes?" He stands up, dripping wet, rocking back on his heels and then his toes.

"Like to do at night because of lights."

[blindwatchersees]

"Yes, the lights make it better. It's fun to dance on the shimmers. You know, Fever and I were thinking of making a star to put in the pool, to make it shiver even more."

[knotawolf]

"Know Fever. She pulled plant out of my arm that was growing in me and made me wrong colors." A pause, "Plant made me wrong color, not Fever."

Grammar is hard.

"You can make stars? Out of what?"

[blindwatchersees]

"Well, back home, I make stars out of me. Here, to make a real star, I would need to use energy from souls, which is something I imagine the passengers wouldn't look kindly on, and I think the Captain already has claim on that stuff. But I could use my own magic to make a less-real star!"

[knotawolf]

"Want to see making a star!" That sounds so neat.

Wait.

Wait no. First things first. "Can make bird now? Showed something fun."

[blindwatchersees]

"Ah, yes, a promise is a promise. Now... how much do you want to be a bird? Do you just want the body of a bird? Or do you want bird thoughts as well? What about bird memories? Would you like to be a bird in every way for a little while, and hunt and think like a bird does? Or does Yufei simply want to wear a different skin for a while?" He seems to be fine with offering all of these equally.

[knotawolf]

"Wear different skin. Want think like me - is confusing to think like something else and then go back." He says with some authority as if he even knows, but now that he has human capabilities of forethought and afterthought, going back to the animalistic right now thought process would be difficult.

"Wanna fly, and have," He clenches his fingers into claw forms indicating talons. "sharp bits."

[blindwatchersees]

There is a tiny part of Sheogorath that appreciates Yufei knowing the distinction. To possess a human capacity for such things, while still retaining an understanding of a mode of existence where there is the moment above all else... most mortals don't even stop to consider the idea of such a way of thinking.

"As much as I enjoy turning someone's view of the world upside down, I respect that you know what you want. Alright, you shall have your wings, and your talons, too. Are you ready?"

[knotawolf]

He hops from foot to foot eagerly. "Yes yes. Be bird now."

Wings and talons and he can flap his arms and fly. He is so excited.

[blindwatchersees]

With a wide grin, he pulls a staff seemingly from nowhere- it's got a spiraling shaft and is topped with carvings of three faces melded together at the edges, one laughing, one crying, and one screaming. A soft red light gathers at its tip, and then the charge is loosed at Yufei.

It's disorienting and easy all at once, like turning head over heels while effortlessly changing a pair of socks. In the blink of an eye and the passing of a moment's thought, Yufei is painlessly turned from man to bird, specifically a peregrine falcon, though the mind within is left the same.

[knotawolf]

Yufei goes from eagerly rocking on his heels to having a completely different perspective, if he thought going from almost eight feet tall to six feet was a wild shift - going from six feet to nine inches is even more extreme. He gives a little hop, flipping his new wings out to look at them, and almost falling over because his neck rotates a lot more than it used to.

But now the moment of truth. He gives a few flaps, not getting much lift until he gives a running start and takes off, soaring ... well not majestically, a little like a drunk pigeon, but he's enjoying himself. He glides through the air giving a happy falcon screech.

This is the best day of his life.

[blindwatchersees]

Sheogorath watches gleefully, drinking in the delight that Yufei is absolutely radiating. Some days, it's difficult being the god of madness. Some days, it's difficult holding dominion over, and being, and experiencing some of life's heaviest burdens.

And then there are days like this.