dissonates | [Voice/Action] backdated to Day 1 of the event until the end!

[Asch will be leaving a single message on the journal network on the evening of the first day, his voice flat:]

[Voice]

I know that the village is being its usual mad self this week, but Guy Cecil's gone back to his world. With the recent departures, Good Spirits is shorthanded.

[....oh, right.]

Also, considering the bar is in the area where alcohol is apparently prohibited, thieves have been after the stores. Most of the remaining supply's been hidden, but I could use help guarding it.

As far as I know, the journal network has always been for our eyes only, so if you want any for yourself and the staff doesn't recognize you, try to come up with something only one of us would know.

[After that, he won't be doing much exploration. Asch is having none of this silly experiment business; he woke up wearing this, and since his closet seems to be full of clothes either like it or much worse, he just rolls with it. He's been around the block before. He'll be staying in the bar pretty much 24/7 (besides food runs and emergencies) to make sure the collection doesn't get completely depleted; he may be a recently returned staff member himself, now, but the bar was important to Guy, so he can at least protect it for a while. Alcoholic drinks will be served through the back door to villagers only, so if you want some booze, better figure out a way to act convincing.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you got a plan?

[That's step one, after all. He's not sure how much experience Emil has with leadership, and it's not like he thinks that his advice would be spectacular - leading a fraction of an army is different than a guild, he figures, especially with Yuri originally in charge - but there's no harm in asking the right questions.]

It's a relief to know that someone does.

[ frank. flip. and friendly. ]

[...]

Well, I hope they had some good qualities.

[She doesn't know anything about Asch's life except that he and Guy used to hate each other. So now she's wondering.

Totally assuming he and Luke have always been best buds, btw.]

Is "useful" enough of one to count?

[It was enough to keep him traveling with certain irritants for a while.

...Ginji was alright, though. And now Asch is missing him, too. Ugh.]

[Good grief, how can she talk about this in that tone? He's momentarily taken aback.]

If you draw comfort in such things, sure.

...Where else are we gonna draw comfort?

As long as they're not doubly obnoxious by constantly rubbing that fact in your face.

I didn't know that comfort was a requirement.

[Can't people just stay angry and miserable like him?]

...Not... constantly.

[Generally it depended on the severity of the situation they were facing. They did like to tease him almost more than he could handle.]

[ nah. people must instead stay angry and miserable but under a highly fortified top-layer of sass. ]

Shouldn't it be? I mean -- every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a right to be comforted. Don't they? [ ... ] Minus the really really evil Toms, Dicks, and Harrys.

[He's still working on the sass part. It was never his forte.

Also:]

...That's kind of vulgar phrasing, isn't it?

[Guess who doesn't have that slang back home.]

I dunno. It probably could have been vulgarer...

[ this said as she reviews her words and tries to determine just what he thought was-- oh! ]

N-no. I didn't mean...well -- it's just a name. I swear. Lots of names.

No... I've never really been in charge of anything before. I mean, I've been a part of groups, but I was always just one of the members, not the leader. That's why I'm a little nervous about this.

That's a terrible name.

[Seriously, who would punish their child like that.]

It's short for Richard.

Don't ask me why.

You need a goal, then.

[He's not looking at Emil now - his focus is on his cooking - but there's a strange sort of calm in his tone, almost nostalgic, but not pleasantly so.]

A leader without a goal is useless. Even something as vague as "we want to make the inhabitants of the village live happily", or "Brave Vesperia will keep Luceti safe" is better than nothing. When you've got an endgame, you look more like a solid leader; you're forward-thinking and you're confident. People look up to someone who makes a plan and sticks to it.

[It's why the entirety of the Oracle Knights worshipped Van and followed him even after he betrayed the world, after all- you just can't refuse that sort of unshakable determination.]

The more I hear about your world, the stranger I think it must be.

[That includes all of the various incarnations of Earth. It's just a really weird place, okay.]

I'd say we want to do all of those things, but wouldn't that be a little too broad? I always thought having specific goals was better.

[This is really a new area for him. Leading a group of monsters isn't the same thing as leading people at all, especially not since the monsters would pretty much do whatever he told them to. Well. Most of the time.]

So... maybe we could start with some small things and then work our way up from there. Besides, I think people would be a lot more willing to trust us if we show them that we can get stuff done.

Really? You must've had some wonderful luck in travelling companions.

...C'mon. You guys don't have any weird nicknames?

Having a broad goal doesn't mean you're limited to only that one. Short term plans are means to an end- steps that you take towards accomplishing the nonspecific end. "Protect the village" can become "stop the droids from kidnapping people", which filters down into "patrol the streets", "recruit more members", "train everyone to defend themselves".

Having only smaller goals makes a group indecisive and aimless. You accomplish more, but you're not working towards anything.

You call that lucky?

[Just who the hell has she been traveling with?]

Generally, no. Most of the time if someone takes on another name, it's for a disguise- to escape their own past, or something like that.

[Or it's stolen. But that's not a nickname, either.]

[ and then buffy summers took one of those conversational risks she is so fond of taking: ] Like with Guy? I've given his full name a try. It's a mouthful...

[It's not exactly a flinch, but the way Asch glances away is probably telling. He doesn't look angry, though, just uncomfortable.]

...He's an example of that, yes.

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