[SPHINX]

[guillotineroom]

[when you open your eyes, you find yourself in a pleasant greenhouse. the sweet scent of flowers surrounds you, and the sun shining through the glass ceiling invigorates you from within. there are stone benches on which you can sit, and if you're hungry, there's a garden table with some refreshing tea and scones available to you]

[the voice– the good voice– echoes in your head again]

YOUR DESIRES. . . CREATED THIS REALM. IT IS YOURS. . . IT IS NOT TYPHON'S! I CAN USE THOSE DESIRES TO GIVE YOU A SAFE PLACE. . . FROM WHICH TO FIGHT.

BUT I CANNOT DEFEAT HIM. . . ONLY YOU CAN. ONLY YOU– WITH YOUR OWN DESIRES!! YOU CAN. . . RESHAPE THIS WORLD. . . HOWEVER YOU'D LIKE!

Comments

[EMOTION]

[guillotineroom]

[despite the safety of your greenhouse, you can feel the thrums of Typhon's emotions raging just outside your safety bubble. his voice is distant, but audible. . .]

You dare call me obsessed? I am merely doing what any good father would! You do not understand. . . you could not understand!

[DISCUSSION]

[guillotineroom]

[DO BONDS AND THINGS HERE]

Re: [DISCUSSION]

[hermit_crab]

[ Tolovir looks a LOT confused, to be honest, but - greenhouse? Greenhouse is GOOD. He winds up sitting down on one of the benches rather heavily. ]

I ... must have missed something.

[davincible]

Yeah, all of the excitement. Seriously, how long were you planning on napping?

[ Hands on her hips. ]

[hermit_crab]

I - I don't know, I -

[ He seems mildly alarmed. ]

Was I asleep? Where IS this?

[inklongdry]

Tolovir! Welcome back, my friend!

[hermit_crab]

Yes, ah - I'm not entirely sure what happened.

[derailer]

Oh...! You are awake! Congratulations!

[hermit_crab]

Ah - thank you. It's odd to consider, but still accurate.

[hearthwarming]

[ Oh, but the greenhouse vibes are simply immaculate... Catch Ori with her face fully in the flowers before that voice, those feelings resonate around them. ]

The obsession of a father...

[ She gently plucks a flower from one of the plants. ]

I suppose it's not too unlike being trapped in a greenhouse, hm? The child may grow beautifully inside, but they won't know how to survive outside...

[hermit_crab]

Mm. I am all too familiar with the feeling.

[ DOUBLE DADS, DOUBLE TRAUMA... ]

In my case, focusing on the friends I found later in life was helpful.

[hearthwarming]

[ She nods solemnly. She didn't get to grow up with her father in her life, but she's met plenty of people who would have been familiar with the feeling - and now, Tolovir included.

Ori offers him a warm smile. ]

Family doesn't have to just be by blood, after all. It's good to see you again, Tolovir.

[inklongdry]

[ Flowers!! Arthur is also excited for flowers. ]

'Tis a fair comparison. And I think Typhon has long forgotten that a part of grief is acceptance.

[hearthwarming]

[ She knows Arthur would be excited for flowers, too, which is why she tucks the one she's holding into his hair. ]

That's true. One can't move on from their grief if they never come to terms with it.

[ A beat. ] What was your father like, Arthur?

[davincible]

My father had a bunch of kids, though you couldn't call his care with us "obsessed".

[derailer]

Mmmm... That is a fair point.

[derailer]

I am not sure how self-centered you have to be to assume we cannot possibly understand a high level of investment in our families... If your fixation clouds your perception of reality to that degree, then it truly has transformed into a maladaptive obsession.

[davincible]

Well, "high level of investment" sure is one way to put it...

[DESIRE TURN IN]

[guillotineroom]

[all characters are allowed to respond, you do not have to formulate a response as a team! just type up what your character desires for the village/Typhon here!]

[hearthwarming]

[ Obsession, fixation on a very singular purpose - she has seen it permeate this place. Typhon and his children... as well as her fellow inmates. Those who seek vengeance, or retribution, or who grieve and grieve and fall into that unfathomably dark pit. Spirits know she's felt it, too. Wanting to keep what's precious to her close and never letting go, for fear of losing them... But that's exactly what this obsession is. It's not love, though it can easily be mistaken for such.

Love is an openness and trust, it is allowing oneself to let go and let your loved ones have the freedom to make their own choices. It is not trapping them in a beautiful greenhouse and sheltering them from what's outside. She thinks about being trapped in this prison, and how the most precious moments she's had were the ones she shared with her teammates and friends and lovers. She thinks about the dreams and the memories and the moments she's shared and those that have been shared with her in turn, about learning what other's worlds are like, and how, when she was much much younger, the freedom she had in adventuring shaped her to be who she is today...

She is richer for having known these people. That's love. Not keeping them locked up in this cage.

Ori wishes for the oppressive boundaries of this realm to be torn down, for these shackles to be broken. For all of them - Typhon's children included - to be afforded the chance to walk out of the greenhouse freely, to travel to distant worlds and make their own mistakes and learn and grow in the light and open air. And knowing that they always have that choice to go where they would like, or even to go home. She hopes that Typhon sees that is what the true love of a parent should be like. ]

[davincible]

Personally, Da Vinci thinks Typhon should take responsibility and be imprisoned as himself, in no one else's body, while those he's tried to use for his own means are allowed to go free. If not imprisoned, then he needs to be entirely stripped of his powers. She's not a big believer in just yanking open doors to everyone else's places, because that could lead to future Problems for worlds, but she'll let the majority have their say in that.

[derailer]

[Ingo is going to concentrate and put a lot of deliberate desires into this. Maybe not all of them can be fulfilled, or even most of them. But he is determined!

Without question, Typhon, Echidna, their children, and all of the prisoners and their possessions can't forget this like it was just a dream. It is important that everyone remember these things that happened to them!

He wants Typhon to be freed from this rut of obsession and learn that being too adamant is counterproductive. Give Typhon the freedom to know when to let go, and he will be able to hold onto things better in the long run. Truly loving someone can require giving them space sometimes.

He wants Typhon, Echidna, and their children to all be able to reconcile in some capacity, and live peacefully how they choose, without needing to occupy or involve anyone else. And those possessions that aren't his children should be free to choose where they go after this. The same goes for all the other prisoners. Connections to so many places have been opened, and everyone should at least be able to choose where they're freed to, no matter where they came from.

If Typhon has the power to sustain life in people who previously lost that life, he shouldn't revoke that power now. He should bestow upon everyone the opportunity to make a fresh start. To continue living and to go where they choose, just like all the others.

Everyone kept prisoner here should be able to keep in contact after this. They should be able to keep their phones and all the memories they made here. And ideally, those phones would still work to keep in touch with the other inmates, even across space and time.

Also, though it goes without saying that everyone should get un-possessed... maybe everyone can keep the powers they bought from the store as some nice compensation for all the hardship. And keep the Personae too.

The village they built with their desires can remain as a safe haven for everyone, regardless of what is going on in other worlds. It would be nice if Typhon took responsibility and looked over the dokkaebi the teams hatched for his task, too... maybe they can finally build the train for the Sphinx dokkaebi and have a station in the village... it is what the dokkaebi deserves. It is what the people deserve. Surely the desires are strong enough for this.]

Re: [DESIRE TURN IN]

[pagereturner]

[Yu Junghyeok understands Obsession quite well. He was forced to live with it for a very long time. Obsession was the only thing that could pull him through the scenarios. It was the only thing that could let him keep going afterwards. He knows what the opposite of Obsession is.

He doesn't believe Typhon deserves Peace. He believes Typhon deserves death. But he thinks that, maybe, his children do deserve peace. This whole thing needs to just end. He doesn't think he would wish the fate of being a Regressor on his worst enemy, and shockingly, that does include Typhon - the fate of starting over, again and again, remembering each of your failures, each of your losses, watching them just pile up through dozens, hundreds of failed Regressions...again. He went through it. He wouldn't wish it on anybody.

But maybe just once. Maybe Typhon deserves to have to return to the start just once and figure his shit out. For his family, for all of the prisoners, for this whole nightmare to just end, maybe Typhon finding Peace is the best thing.

Because if he can't, Yu Junghyeok is perfectly fine delivering on that whole "I-promise-to-take-your-head" thing from before.]

Re: [DESIRE TURN IN]

[hermit_crab]

[ Tolovir is turning in peace and solitude - in the form of a cottage away from the rest of the world, full of beautiful flowers and friends to share it with. ]

[THE END]

[directrice]

[you offer up your desires, the counterbalances to Typhon's emotions that swirl outside the greenhouse, distant but raw]

[and then. . . the glass begins to crack]

[this may seem worrying, but the bunny box's voice echoes in your head to soothe your concerns]

IT IS OKAY! DO NOT WORRY. YOUR POWER. . . IT IS ENOUGH. CLOSE YOUR EYES AND HOLD ON VERY VERY TIGHTLY!!

[and then, all around you, the greenhouse glass shatters, and your vision is engulfed in a warm, bright light]