Good to hear. Some of us choose transformation, like my crab friend. Others, it's a natural extension of their Embrace and they don't get to decide what it looks like. And they're usually the ones with the best information and document skills around.
I was a very observant child when it came to how to not get grounded.
They really have. That's where some of those dead language codes come from, they're old enough to have learned the language while it was still alive.
Most I know just look the way they do from a lifetime of getting beaten up and never seeing a dentist. They usually have some talent to have survived that long, though what those talents are can vary.
I imagine the creative lies were part of the fun.
That’s one thing about living such a long time I do find appealing.
It can be a little more dramatic than that, on a wide and varied scale. I'll let you know if I think you need to brace yourself before we do introductions, if they even want to meet in person. Usually they'll send a ghoul up top instead.
Very much so! Dad was easy, but I think it's because he thought the lies were funny.
It is very interesting, isn't it? I'm practically a baby compared to them, but I've seen some of it already. Mostly just with slang, and regional stuff going between places.
I’ve dealt with proclaimed ghosts and shadow monsters and demons, too. Fangs, wings, fur and smoke in the wrong places. I wouldn’t worry about either impressing or horrifying me with how things appear. I’ll probably still think on what the person’s strengths and weaknesses might be that are perceivable, but I do that with everyone just in case.
Not that it’s on my future list, but I’d be inclined to how your dad perceived things, too. If a lie is good it should be rewarded.
I can imagine you would have. It’s changed even in my time and I haven’t hit three decades yet. I enjoy picking up regional slang a lot, being in a port city. You get a lot of variations of it from people that visit or move here. And accents to go along with it.
Very good to know. I'll admit that at first it took me a bit to adjust when I started meeting them in person, but they're well worth the change in perspective. Beyond the strengths and weaknesses, but those will probably impress you, too.
He was always pragmatic like that. Even if the lie wasn't good and just funny enough to amuse him.
Oh yeah, you're well positioned to see all those changes and morphs in real time, aren't you? What's your favorite bit you've heard from somewhere else?
Something about a book and its cover? Or a song and its album cover.
I’m waiting for an outrageous lie now, you know. The next time I come home and something ridiculous is going on behind my back.
Hm, well, the first two that come to mind are business-related. Where I come from, you ask “how down” when asking how injured you want someone. One of my crew from Ravka used to ask “over or under” to mean the same thing, what degree should the attack be at. Another one around here is asking “what business” to ask what someone wants, and someone I know from Novyi Zem just asks “working or playing” for a shorthand version of their own.
I couldn’t encourage what wasn’t present in some capacity already.
Ghouls sound a little like a gang’s lieutenants. Being sent out on business for their boss. Perhaps I should tell Jesper that he can go by that instead. So the language can work both ways, of course.
It’s definitely superior to receiving compliments myself, though that’s not my sole motivation for doing it.
Two glaring distinctions. The longevity part is an unfortunate one, but I thankfully don’t find the loyalty aspect to be complicated between us. I know you talked some on ghouls in the past, and how they're compelled to do what they're told.
What are your other motivations? Or are they secret ones I can only find by snooping on your stationary?
It's a compulsion in degrees. Some are bound to only one Kindred, which makes the blood tie between them a lot stronger. Others are bound to a clan, or a court. They'll take blood from multiple Kindred, which makes the compulsion aspect weaker, but in general they're just as loyal.
Forcing a ghoul to do something even outside our very dark gray areas can be punishable, too. At the very least, it usually earns you the distrust of other Kindred.
Nothing particularly secret this time around, simply that I also meant it.
Behavior like that is sadly not restricted to simply Kindred, though the means for control are different. Only most of human society still doesn't care unless it impacts them personally or they're feeling particularly performative that day.
It's unfortunate that it happens at all. Each relationship is different with them, even among my Sisters, but being wantonly cruel to a ghoul is looked at poorly from all sides. Should be looked at poorly no matter what their status, but I guess it's something to keep singing about.
You do. Although time is never something I let myself count on, not fully. I know certain things will take years, or in this case centuries, but I don’t trust it, if that makes sense.
Then again, I’ve been on borrowed time for over a decade, so my perspective is as skewed as anyone’s.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-09-14 02:09 pm (UTC)I was a very observant child when it came to how to not get grounded.
They really have. That's where some of those dead language codes come from, they're old enough to have learned the language while it was still alive.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-15 11:16 am (UTC)I imagine the creative lies were part of the fun.
That’s one thing about living such a long time I do find appealing.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-15 01:57 pm (UTC)Very much so! Dad was easy, but I think it's because he thought the lies were funny.
It is very interesting, isn't it? I'm practically a baby compared to them, but I've seen some of it already. Mostly just with slang, and regional stuff going between places.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 11:51 am (UTC)Not that it’s on my future list, but I’d be inclined to how your dad perceived things, too. If a lie is good it should be rewarded.
I can imagine you would have. It’s changed even in my time and I haven’t hit three decades yet. I enjoy picking up regional slang a lot, being in a port city. You get a lot of variations of it from people that visit or move here. And accents to go along with it.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 03:12 pm (UTC)He was always pragmatic like that. Even if the lie wasn't good and just funny enough to amuse him.
Oh yeah, you're well positioned to see all those changes and morphs in real time, aren't you? What's your favorite bit you've heard from somewhere else?
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 04:05 pm (UTC)I’m waiting for an outrageous lie now, you know. The next time I come home and something ridiculous is going on behind my back.
Hm, well, the first two that come to mind are business-related. Where I come from, you ask “how down” when asking how injured you want someone. One of my crew from Ravka used to ask “over or under” to mean the same thing, what degree should the attack be at. Another one around here is asking “what business” to ask what someone wants, and someone I know from Novyi Zem just asks “working or playing” for a shorthand version of their own.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 04:16 pm (UTC)Oh, I've got a few lined up waiting for the right moment. Gonna have to wait a bit, though, for you to forget you're expecting it.
Those are all very good to know. And I think I've heard "what business" before, so it's stretched out to Kindred speech now, too.
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Date: 2023-09-16 04:44 pm (UTC)Has it? I’m curious to know the overlap there, or if it’s just general cultural osmosis.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 04:47 pm (UTC)Some clans stay very closely tied to Kine business, either personally or through their ghouls, depending on a whole hose of other factors.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 05:03 pm (UTC)Ghouls sound a little like a gang’s lieutenants. Being sent out on business for their boss. Perhaps I should tell Jesper that he can go by that instead. So the language can work both ways, of course.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 09:00 pm (UTC)They kind of are, though with more complicated loyalties and ensured longevity. There's quite a few out there older than I am.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 10:11 pm (UTC)Two glaring distinctions. The longevity part is an unfortunate one, but I thankfully don’t find the loyalty aspect to be complicated between us. I know you talked some on ghouls in the past, and how they're compelled to do what they're told.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 10:22 pm (UTC)It's a compulsion in degrees. Some are bound to only one Kindred, which makes the blood tie between them a lot stronger. Others are bound to a clan, or a court. They'll take blood from multiple Kindred, which makes the compulsion aspect weaker, but in general they're just as loyal.
Forcing a ghoul to do something even outside our very dark gray areas can be punishable, too. At the very least, it usually earns you the distrust of other Kindred.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 10:49 pm (UTC)Behavior like that is sadly not restricted to simply Kindred, though the means for control are different. Only most of human society still doesn't care unless it impacts them personally or they're feeling particularly performative that day.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 10:56 pm (UTC)It's unfortunate that it happens at all. Each relationship is different with them, even among my Sisters, but being wantonly cruel to a ghoul is looked at poorly from all sides. Should be looked at poorly no matter what their status, but I guess it's something to keep singing about.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-16 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-17 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-17 01:36 pm (UTC)Then again, I’ve been on borrowed time for over a decade, so my perspective is as skewed as anyone’s.