[netbook] everything happens so much

[forwander]

[The note is scrawled in Passenger's indelicate handwriting... about an hour after this whole thing happens.]

This is Passenger. I did not think this note would be necessary, but in case this somehow went missed: The black stone on my forehead is not decorative and should not be touched. It's an Originium shard from my Oripathy, and touching it is likely to infect you. The disease is incurable and 100% fatal, and we Infected would not wish Oripathy upon anybody.

Do not touch the strange black rocks. I know it's tempting. Do not do it.

Thank you.

Comments

[forwander]

I'm too pissed off right now to deal with what I assume is supposed to be an off-colour joke.

[oleaeuropaea]

no offense but i'm prettyyyyy sure your rock stuff wouldn't even have an impact
my biology is too weird for that.

[diplomaticimmewnity]

It's hard to come across as an unbiased third party in a discussion like this, I'm aware, but know that I'm trying even as I write this: Joking about something that plagues a world and likely is a catalyst for all of its and its peoples' problems, even if you have irrefutable proof it wouldn't do anything to you, is still incredibly tone deaf, Vash.

I sincerely think an apology is in order.

[oleaeuropaea]

dunno! speaking as the biggest plague and problem causer upon the world, laughing is about all you can do.
because what else is there other than succumbing to despair?

[diplomaticimmewnity]

We will agree to disagree here. I'd go into a deeper conversation over it, however, this is not my plight nor is it something I'm going to take up arms for in our current situation. As such, you can very well choose not to heed my cautionary suggestion and continue your questionable endeavors.

I must say, though, even if you're just being impassive, why you're okay with upsetting someone so deliberately?

I digress. I've said my peace, and what happens from here is out of my hands.

[oleaeuropaea]

i'm not
trying to upset anyone>

just trying to...
forget it.

[Stupid SilverAsh making Vash think about his actions and feel guilt! Now he's gotta trudge over to the message below and apologize. SMH!]

[diplomaticimmewnity]

[ It’s because Silverash also has Big Dad energy, sorry, Vash- ]

I see. Yet in that case, it would not only be considered rather self-destructive to respond like that, but also just plain destructive to those around you. If this is truly how you feel, should you not try to lessen the turmoil of those around you, when you’ve experienced it yourself?

[oleaeuropaea]

you act like i wasn't trying to do that.
... but i see your point.

[diplomaticimmewnity]

…

If you would like to talk about it at some point, I’ve got free time to listen.

[oleaeuropaea]

maybe i'll take you up on that.

[He won't, not without being dragged kicking and screaming. But maybe the offer is appreciated.]

[diplomaticimmewnity]

Sure.

[ Enciodes has his doubts for what he knows about Vash. Granted, he pretty much only knows about him through the notebook and Gnosis' recount of Vash, but... ]

And if you don't, and something like this happens again, I hope you understand if people aren't as polite in pointing it out.

[oleaeuropaea]

i get it
and i'd deserve it, in that case.

... thanks, by the way.

[diplomaticimmewnity]

Please look after yourself, Vash. You're a very worrying individual.

[oleaeuropaea]

hah.
i don't know if you'll believe it.
but i get that a lot ;)

[forwander]

You are tone-deaf.

Oripathy destroys the body from the outside in. I know people who were infected purposely by someone who simply wanted to see them suffer. I know people who are going deaf and blind from it, who have no hope of survival because it has progressed to complete organ failure. I've read about the atrocities of Lungmen, where the Infected were rounded up and slaughtered and left in the sewers to rot in a mass grave. I've known people who were kicked out of a proverbial paradise because they caught Oripathy, to no fault of their own. I've witnessed the injustices of world powers against us, I've seen Originium bombs detonate and infect anyone who survived the blast, and I have first-hand witnessed the mutations that come from an illness that seeks only to corrupt, contaminate, and turn us all to ash.

The things I have lost to my own Oripathy are not something I would joke about, yet unlike some, I still stand, and I still function.

This may be funny to you, and you may be laughing. I am not.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Vash wants to argue about this, that bristling up instead of laughing probably isn't the best way to go about it anything. Thankfully guilt overrides his stubbornness for once in his life, and he avoids shoving his foot further into his mouth.]

look.
i'm sorry.
how i cope... probably isn't the same for other folks.
shouldn't have assumed.

[forwander]

[Reads this... mulls it over...

Ugh, fine, he shouldn't have lightning-bolted the outside of your house.]

I appreciate reading those words. I understand you do not fear your biology making you a victim, but even so, I'd rather not take a risk.

Thank you for apologising regardless, Vash.

[oleaeuropaea]

yeah. i mean. thank everyone else here that smacked some sense into me.

but. just to... be clear. and not to justify or act like i was in the right or anything!

i might not fear my biology. but i know what it's like to look in a mirror and know how it feels to be... a threat. a danger. different by circumstances i can't control. sometimes the humor makes it a little more... bearable.

but like i said. assuming that i know better than you about what feels right, and making jokes about things i'll never be able to understand... that wasn't okay.

[And to think he hasn't even seen the worst of it yet! Both in canon and in the Forest! :)]