Ashlyn

[undread]

Comments

[killies]

Not everyone reacts the same way under pressure.

But even Camille wasn't calm, just because she wasn't violent, so... It's strange...

[undread]

It's very odd. She kept refusing to explain, but that was all.

[what does any of it mean.]

Perhaps, from the list of monsters, one of the gentler ones?

[killies]

Other people kept saying she really did fall down, and I heard she was stuck at the tree on Thursday, where Karlach's dog shook blood on everyone. But it still sounded so uncertain.

[undread]

I agree that all of the physical evidence on her had a rational explanation. And if she'd given that explanation, I would have thought little of it.

[but instead she just went :') for 45 minutes]

[killies]

... She and Caelus are friends, right? Did she just want to pull attention away from him?

[undread]

I suppose it's possible.

[though she didn't drop it, even when he started going completely looney tunes.]

[killies]

[ ... ]

I don't know. I always have a hard time talking to her.

[undread]

She reminds me a little of a friend of mine.

[but that particular friend is actually a complete sociopath.]

Very sweet, but with a quite unusual way of thinking sometimes.

[killies]

I feel like I'm more used to people who think in unusual ways than not...

Which friend?

[undread]

Fearne. Just like Robin, she's so beautiful and just a wonderful, calming presence. But she is a fey, so she can be slightly unpredictable at times.

[killies]

It's just about figuring out their priorities with people like that, right?

[undread]

Yes, I think so. And I don't understand hers, exactly.

[killies]

Other people are always hard to understand.

[undread]

Oh, I find most people quite easy to understand, really!

[killies]

... Do you?

[undread]

Sometimes they are a little more difficult, but yes - most people are motivated entirely by fear and greed, each in varying degrees depending on the individual. Those who show courage, it's because there's something their greed causes them to desire more than the fear they feel. But for the majority of people, fear is their primary motivation.

[killies]

[ oh okay. internalizes this. ]

Huh. Do you think caring about people is still a kind of greed? [ genuinely. like, wanting them to be okay as selfishness, at its core. ]

[undread]

[don't internalize this...]

Yes. I think so. Not necessarily a bad kind, but it's all... how much you desire having people, how good it feels to be cared for and to care for someone. That sort of desire can be powerful enough to overcome fear.

[killies]

[ no she's going to. ]

That makes sense. Plus there's your fear of losing them, or your fear or being alone, if that's the kind of thing you're scared of...

[undread]

Precisely! Being alone is the thing I'm most frightened of, so it's easier for me to have courage when that's the risk!

[killies]

I like being alone.

[undread]

[...]

I understand what you mean. [given how hard crowds and loud noises can be for her.] But if you ever go years without talking to another person, you might come to feel differently about that.

[killies]

[ she wants to argue instinctively, but. yeah, that's fair. ]

... I guess I've never had to go very long without at least seeing my parents. [ and she's a teenager so they like. feed her and buy her things and all the other stuff a kid can take completely for granted. ]

[undread]

Are they nice? Your parents?

[killies]

They are.

I've never felt like I needed or even wanted friends... but I don't hate spending time with my parents.