"Well, back when me and my siblings were youngsters we all had sore backs all the time. And Gaius and Michael and Cecily were all the same way."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Huh…” she stretched, cracking her back more. “…me too… I usually don’t mention it though.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I think it has something to do with bone growth, though I'm not sure. But most teenagers seem to have very loud or painful backs. Or both."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Really? I didn’t know that.” She sat down on the edge of the sofa. “Usually when I mention it hurts it summons the nearest adult to tell me I’m too young to know what pain feels like and to just wait until I get older.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I doubt that even if you didn't have back pain," he mused. "But it does get worse as you get older. I died of pneumonia, but while I doing that all I could think about was how damned hard it was to move my fingers these days." He flexed them. "Acute arthritis."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Oh, it’s definitely not true,” Ky confirmed. “I’ve had a ton of bones broken through beatings and Aleth carved me up like a turkey… but usually it’s just not worth it to argue.” She shrugged. “No need for me to try to one-up other peoples’ pain.” She glanced at him. “And that sounds awful… do you feel better now?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He was silent for a moment, giving her a pained look. "You're just a child," he sighed, shaking his head. "None of that should have happened to you. Good gods." He was quiet again, then said, "people in this world are so terrible...perhaps...perhaps it would be good for the gods to awaken. To start anew."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky blinked, startled by the response. Then realized casually trauma dumped. Again. Oops.
“Oh, it’s…” she shrugged and waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. No one hurts me now… is your arthritis better?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He grimaced and looked down at his hand, flexing it again. "I'm dead, so I feel no pain. But you can still see how it looked." He held up his hand. It was bone-thin; he'd obviously lost a lot of weight during his sickness. However, the joints were swollen and the fingers were curved sharply to the side.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"It's part of growing old," he said with a shrug. "I'm sure poor Matthias has even worse problems; he's ancient now."
(Matthias basically living in paradise on the beaches of the East:
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky nodded, then hesitated, laying a hand over her abdomen. “Wait, do you have to keep… scars? Too? When you die?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He nodded. "How you die is how you are. Michael--he has scars on his face, and I expect on his body."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky huffed and leaned back with a pout. “Goddamn it.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Scars are new parts of yourself," he pointed out. "They're what you make of them. Only as powerful as you let them be."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
