Hamuko Arisato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wipingallout) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
personavelvetroomdr2025-04-11 07:47 pm
wipingallout) wrote in personavelvetroomdr2025-04-11 07:47 pm
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Cherry Blossom Evening Party
Throughout the week, Hamuko has messaged the vast majority of people she's met so far - and eagerly invited them to come meet at Inokashira Park starting at 5pm.
βπΈβΛβΉβ‘βΛΒ°πΈβ
You're invited to an evening sushi-party-turned-hanami-picnic-party! I've organized a bunch of cognitive chefs and performers to come to that park on the listed date/time.
I've sent this to you because you were part of one of the three teams that helped with fighting Fatalis or rescuing Falcon and Wolf (or are Falcon and Wolf themselves!!) - we've all busted our butts a lot lately, so I think we deserve to have something nice together too!
Of course, the party is open if you have any +1s or more. But before spring turns into summer, let's celebrate what we've all accomplished together!
.πΈΛπ.ΰ³ΰΏ*:ο½₯
The Venue...
Inokashira Park has a lovely river and trail and a phenomenal collection of cherry blossom trees. They're in the tail end of their season, filling the air with petals like snowfall.
In a large open area, Hamuko's arranged a ton of picnic blankets for people to claim and sit down on, though each blanket is HUGE to accommodate people sitting with as many people as they can handle! There are cozy pillows for sitting on too, stacked neatly to be borrowed.
There's a truly humongous row of tables laid out with an impressive amount of sushi presented. With a few trucks nearby, it seems there's a few sushi chefs making fresh platters of it to lay out through the night.
Similarly, there are food carts along the trails if you're not in the mood for sushi and would rather have some more traditional fare like dango, taiyaki, matcha, takoyaki... it's got the place lively and smelling fantastic! There's sake for the adults, and some cherry-blossomed themed mocktails for minors.
πΈπ² ΰΉΰ£ ΰ£ͺ Λπ
Activities
There's a few set out activities besides just chowing down and socializing or walking along the lantern-lit trails under the cherry blossoms! Inoshikara Park has always had cute little swan pedal boats or regular rowboats for 'rental' (not that money matters here).
The area is SO pretty, perfect for taking pictures to have as keepsakes. There's even a booth to claim a yukata and privately change into it, if you want to go the extra mile!
Finally, in lieu of a traditional band or modern concert, Hamuko has picked out a large set of speakers connected to a small karaoke stage and screen - menace the party with your sing-along! Get a little boost to your Guts!!
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Logically, he knew that. But to hear Phoenix confirm it again, when it's not the heat of the moment or trying to pacify raging Shadows...
A complicated feeling burrows itself into Falcon's chest, a deep, aching longing. He hasn't been to Hell, of course, and- fuck, it's Hell, so it can't be all good, but... but. He allows himself to imagine, for a moment- just saying fuck it, leaving everything he knows behind. Meeting Phoenix' adoptive fathers- the weird Imp and fucking Stolas of the Ars Goetia, one of Hell's princes. Meeting his siblings, all of them scrutenizing him before deciding, hey, if Phoenix likes Falcon, he can't be too bad. To just be accepted for who and what he is, no questions asked. To carve out his own little place, to find people who care- actually care, and not have to deal with any of the bullshit that is his life ever again. Sure, there's problems, Hell is dealing with a war, but fuck, he's made for that.
... Would his form change? Would he become a weird bird thing too, or would he remain a robot? Would it be a strange combination of both, or-
"You know why I can't-" he says, and he sounds far, far more emotional than he intended. If he could be, he might be close to tears- he certainly sounds the part, and he forces himself to get it together before he continues. "I can't just... continue to let Shido do what he wants. I can't just- I need to see him destroyed. Personally."
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Falcon's face scrunches up. Will he, though? Everything, in plain terms, sucks, and he doesn't see himself making it out alive. Even if he doesn't somehow get destroyed while destroying the conspiracy, where is he supposed to go when he runs out of battery? The Kirijo Group?
Like fucking hell. He'd rather die.
But... if he dies back home, he's not getting a do-over like he is here- not unless someone rebuilts him. He's a machine, he can, technically, always be repaired. But will it still be him?
Will the people who care about him still recognize him?He doesn't say anything for a while, gaze empty as he watches the petals drift by. Such transient life...
"... I have to kill Shido," he says, aiming for determined, but it sounds far more brittle than he'd like. "I'm taking that fucker down, no matter what."
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They don't kill, though. They brainwash, and Falcon- can't. He can't do that. Nobody deserves to be brainwashed. Even Shido...?
... It wouldn't be Shido anymore. Any apologies, any actions taken at all wouldn't still be the same man who tormented him so. How could Falcon ever take solace in that? No, he wants to see Shido's life leave his eyes personally, and tear down as much of the conspiracy as he can before he goes down with it.
Steal his own future...
"Once I leave... I suppose I'll see you soon enough regardless," he murmurs, "assuming I end up in the same Hell as you at all."
... what does that even mean?
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Probably Niijima would never support it. But others... others would understand. "But it should be your call, in the end. Yours and, to a lesser degree, Ren's. If the timeline otherwise matches up, anyway." After all, he'd been a victim too.
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... isn't it the same as murder, in a way? He knows the thieves certainly don't think so. Phoenix' words ring a bit hollow- if it were a matter of practicality, why even bother with anything they do? Wouldn't it be simpler to simply lure out the Palace owner's Shadow and get rid of it?
"I'm not sure I want their help." Falcon admits with a frown. "It's..."
A lot of things. He killed the mother of at least one of their members, was going to kill the father of one of their soon-to-be members, and he wouldn't have regretted a thing. He still won't, if it comes down to it- Okumura senior is a piece of shit who deserves death as much as Shido. Many of the people he'd killed were people who deserved it, and outside of Wakaba, he barely regrets a thing, at this point.
... Not all of them, of course. But enough of them.
Then there is, again, the brainwashing. He can't help it, but every time he thinks about it-
He can't. He can't. His grip on himself tightens.
"Phoenix." His voice is low and cold and... anxious. "What does a change of heart entail, exactly?"
What do they do to brainwash people?
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He leaned back, considering his words carefully... and withdrew from an unseen pocket- a simple black card, blank, bearing an emblem, a nautilus shell in violet and an embossed gold 'N'. "You've seen these. Or something like them, anyway. The calling card is the trick. Let them know you're coming, and convince them that that blockage- the load-bearing root of their distorted worldview- is a physical object that can be stolen. They don't have to consciously believe it. Their Shadow knows. And then... you make good on the threat. Within a day or so, you break in, you steal what is now the Treasure. And suddenly... for the first time they see themselves for who they really are, without any of the filters of delusion, without the self-justification, without anything they were previously using to be able to think that all of this... was fine."
He thought, suddenly, of Stella. Who'd been... happy. Not just happy, not in the way Maruki had wanted, but... able to grow. "... I admit, I used to see it as nothing more than brainwashing. Replacing a real bastard with someone who was less of a fucking problem. But I've spent a lot of time around someone who's been subjected to it and it's... different. She describes it as having... sudden, perfect clarity, for the first time. In a lot of cases of the absolute worst people humanity has to offer... maybe that's enough to destroy them. And maybe killing them would be more merciful. But I think what Ren was trying to get me to understand, before the end, was... it's not about punishment. Punitive Justice does not work. True Justice is found in Restoration, in making the victims whole. In undoing the damage you've done, and if you can't do that, in working to make sure that others don't suffer the same way. And you can't get that from a corpse. Sometimes a corpse really is the better solution, but that's where it gets a bit complicated, and nobody ever said moral philosophy was simple."
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He doesn't know how to feel about it at all. But, there is one thing he does know:
"Rooting around inside someone's mind, changing them inside out without their knowledge or consent..." he murmurs, "I can't stand the thought."
He closes his eyes, frowning.
"Thanks for telling me," he says. He gets why Phoenix thinks about it like that, but- "but I can't."
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He hesitated... and offered his left hand. There was... a spark. Something green that danced, between his fingers. "I mean it. Every word. If you call, I'll come running. I'll do what I can to help you. If it means supporting you in killing him because they won't, so be it. If it means giving you a way out where you can't see one otherwise, then I'll offer you that, too. And I won't ask anything in return... other than you not give up. You're worth more than that, Falcon. Goro. And that's... a Deal. If you want it."
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Falcon's eyes widen at the use of his name, his real name, at what exactly it is Phoenix is offering him. His sensors practically vibrate at the ambient sense of... something. Magic. Not just any- Falcon's learned enough about Phoenix by now-
"... That'll bind you to me," he mutters, watching the green light pulse in Phoenix' hand, "won't it? And not in the way you showed me earlier."
Back at the dungeon. The bond between them- it exists, yes, but it's not nearly the same as this.
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Falcon supposes he already knew that, but still, something in his core clenches at that, his face crumpling despite himself.
"... None. None at all," he says, voice a little more brittle than he'd like. Still, he raises his hand, even if somewhat hesitantly.
"I won't- I'm not going to use this to force you into anything," he says, more firmly than before. Then, quietly: "thank you, Phoenix."
His hand, mechanical and hard, clasps around the feathered one, accepting the green light.
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There were signs, and for every demon they were different. In his case, there was falling feathers, the smell of gunsmoke and black coffee, the sound of crows as his eyes burned with emerald fire-
And then it was finished, and he pulled his hand away. There was a flicker of worry, but... no, there was no lingering sense of unease, or doom, like there had been with Alastor. There was just... the promise. It was a warm feeling, and one he found he didn't mind at all. This... was not a mistake.
"There," he said, simply, as though what had just happened was completely normal. "Now you know... you'll always have a friend."
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-- but he doesn't, tightening his grip. Anxiety sits deep-rooted in his systems, now, but determination wins out. He will see this through. With Phoenix' help, if needs be.
"... Indeed," he says, pulling his hand back to himself when Phoenix does. With the deal struck... there's an odd feeling in his chest, but it's not bad. He... thinks he doesn't mind this.
The cherry petals blow by the both of them, a gentle wind tousling their hair (and feathers, in Phoenix' case). Something about this feels more peaceful than it had before.
"... You know you can ask the same of me, if you need."
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