[open] August catch-all

[unkindled_madness]

Who: Sephiroth unkindled_madness and you!
What: Getting back to some semblance of normalcy. With totally normal life changes.
When: throughout August
Where: Sunset Falls
Content Warnings: N/A for now

((Starters in the comments! Will match format.))

Comments

I figured!

[unkindled_madness]

The town sits on a hellmouth, but it is protected by a divine pact made between the Mayor and an obliging deity.

A mayor's absence weakens that protection.

[Just normal Sunset Falls stuff.]

[levelshift]

[.... A hellmouth. Accelerator has no idea what a hellmouth is, but he can guess.]

It all must be connected, then. The Wests, the Shining God, a fucking hellmouth.

[This is insane and dumb and he just wants to take a nap.]

Well, none of this crap has the same kind of tether Fantastic had. As far as I can tell it's all normal junk.

[unkindled_madness]

[The Shining God connected to Sunset Falls specifically...? He wonders. Supposedly the cult has influence with a number of authority figures, but Mayor West? It doesn't seem like their territory.]

Hm. Unfortunate that it only leaves us to speculate, although if that was the Shining God's work, then its absence among her followers suggests her direct influence is limited.

[levelshift]

She had said something about needing to get rid of us to manifest, so I'd be surprised if she could fuck up anyone or anything like she did with Fantastic.

[He's sure he'd be sensing more of the Shining God's vectors if she had more of a direct influence on this universe.]

[unkindled_madness]

I wonder if he made a pact of his own, inviting her presence.

[Sephiroth shakes his head.]

May I ask how your power works, exactly?

[levelshift]

He must've. Or someone did it for him.

[And that made the tether between Fantastic and, presumably, the Shining God.

He leans back on the bench, sighing.]

I'm psychic, basically. There's this medical process back home that, when someone goes through it, causes their brain and body to disassociate from normal reality and perceive it in a way that's personal to them. I can then enforce my Personal Reality on normal reality using quantum mechanics and mathematical calculations.

[Just normal reality warper things.]

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth gives him a lingering glance at "medical process," but he isn't going to ask. It's not his business, and he doesn't want to get into it.]

So you're able to perceive reality on an entirely different level.

But magic doesn't follow the rules you're accustomed to?

[levelshift]

[Accelerator is very casual about the entire explanation. He doesn't care, it's common knowledge back home and he's used to both having no privacy and oversharing.]

Magic doesn't follow normal physical laws. Even my abilities are based in science. This magic is like a fucking black box to me, when I try to calculate for it I can do it up to a certain point, but then an error gets introduced and I don't know how to fix it. If I keep calculating the greater the error grows until it's taken over the entire thing.

[He sighs, frustrated.]

By that point I've lost sight of what I was trying to do in the first place.

[unkindled_madness]

Hm. The magic where I come from is based in scientific principles. But there are, or course, many kinds, and many sources. A practitioner of one may not understand any of the others.

So of course there's no need to push yourself.

[levelshift]

[Accelerator clicks his tongue. Sounds like that's still science to him, just science that's more like Kakine's dark matter.]

I'm not pushing myself. [He might be, a little bit. But he wouldn't be named after particle accelerators if he wasn't like this.] I'll figure it out.

[unkindled_madness]

Perhaps you aren't, at the moment.

But you seem the type. [And he doesn't want to encourage it.]

[levelshift]

... Tche.

[Sephiroth is not wrong, though that doesn't stop Accelerator from looking annoyed.]

This isn't the time to be taking it easy. If that fucking god shows up again I don't want to be caught off-guard. [He can't be. He's not sure if anyone else can sense those kinds of vectors, so he feels responsible.]

[unkindled_madness]

And will you be able to fight effectively if you've overtaxed yourself?

[levelshift]

Yeah. My fighting ability relies on mental calculations, and I'm really fucking good at still being able to do them even when I'm tired.

[unkindled_madness]

I'm sure you are.

[He lets out a soft sigh. He recognizes this stubbornness, but he doesn't really know how to combat it.]

Do you have those you trust, here?

[levelshift]

[People he trusts? Well, he doesn't have any family here. He refuses to consider anyone here a friend, even though Leo and Donnie are exactly that.

So his answer is a little complicated.]

... I know two idiots that are somewhat reliable.

[High praise coming from him!]

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth smiles faintly. That's familiar, too.]

I suppose one has to start somewhere.

[levelshift]

[Accelerator clicks his tongue again in annoyance.]

I'm not about to get fucking attached to them or anything.

[unkindled_madness]

Of course not. What would be the point of growing attached?

[levelshift]

[He narrows his eyes slightly. That question sounds patronizing.]

It's pointless, so I don't bother with that kind of shit.

[unkindled_madness]

I understand.

[Because he's been there. He's sure this kid has his reasons, too, and they won't be so easily discarded. He shouldn't poke fun.]

This is the sort of place where one needs allies, but it doesn't need to go any further than that.

[levelshift]

.....

[He sighs a little.]

Yeah, which is still a huge pain in the ass. [But that's just part of having to exist within a society. He knows that.]

[unkindled_madness]

In many ways, it would be easier if one didn't have to rely on anyone else. It takes time to assess how trustworthy others might be, and they often seem eager to disregard that.

[levelshift]

Hmm. [That's pretty true, in his experience.]

It's a lot of effort for no return.

[unkindled_madness]

...sometimes, yes. Perhaps even most of the time.