There's an area of Ravka that's covered in darkness, called the Shadow Fold. The Unsea. It's full of monsters that tear people apart. When skiffs pass through, they're lucky if anyone comes out the other side alive.
When my unit was going out into it, the night before, I couldn't sleep. I stayed up all night because I knew if I shut my eyes, it would be morning, and we'd be going out there. I wanted to delay it coming as long as I could.
I feel like I'm reading about all of this instead of just doing it for the same reason.
[ as she starts reading, Jess can't grasp why she's being told this. by the end, her failure to understand tenfold, exasperated by her powerlessness to do anything. nobody deserves this, especially when they're this young. ]
You've still got a little time to come to terms with it
I can't tell you how to feel about it Nobody should But it doesn't change who you are
[ it's too bleak and cruel to tell her the truth: saying that doesn't slake the pain. it can, however, give other people the impression of strength, and that can keep them from seeing it. it's better than nothing. let her try. ]
I can't tell you what to do. Just don't land yourself in realignment. Anything is better than that.
Maybe they have Maybe it didn't work Maybe they're gearing up to try again but if they are it looks like what they're planning is too important to get sidetracked by sick displays of power
Hell maybe that was the city trying to bait them out I don't know But I can tell you for goddamn sure that you or me on our own don't mean shit to either side
[ she's right. alina knows that she's right. no one was going to save them. good behavior wasn't going to save them, either. thinking otherwise just insulated alina from having to imagine that it could be her on that video, next time. ]
So that's all? We keep our heads down and use our bodies the way they tell us to until it goes away?
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Ravka not letters.
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From what I've heard, no one here has heard of it.
What's wrong with eye contact?
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Do it if you want but his minds gonna be blown either way
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When my unit was going out into it, the night before, I couldn't sleep. I stayed up all night because I knew if I shut my eyes, it would be morning, and we'd be going out there. I wanted to delay it coming as long as I could.
I feel like I'm reading about all of this instead of just doing it for the same reason.
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You've still got a little time to come to terms with it
I can't tell you how to feel about it
Nobody should
But it doesn't change who you are
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You've got someone at home
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[ when she starts choosing to go along with it, isn't it? ]
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Its shameful and it hurts and how you deal with it is the only choice you control.
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I can't tell you what to do.
Just don't land yourself in realignment. Anything is better than that.
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(cw: victim blaming)
They can't be doing that to everyone.
[ right? there's no way they'd all allow it. he must have done something especially heinous. one of the guards had mentioned killing someone ...
it's the only way alina can make sense of it. and she's not ready for it to not make sense yet. ]
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Why not?
This whole city's drinking the kool aid there's a damn people zoo
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The people would revolt.
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Maybe it didn't work
Maybe they're gearing up to try again but if they are it looks like what they're planning is too important to get sidetracked by sick displays of power
Hell maybe that was the city trying to bait them out
I don't know
But I can tell you for goddamn sure that you or me on our own don't mean shit to either side
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So that's all?
We keep our heads down and use our bodies the way they tell us to until it goes away?
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That's all I've got right now.
Find someone you can talk to. That's supposed to help.
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I will.