001; audio; day 65

[kingside]

[The transmission is preceded by a brief sigh, a sound halfway between begrudging and resigned. Not the best noise to make while forming a first impression, but he's past caring at the moment.]

Hello. My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, and evidently, I am among Asgard's newest residents. [A brief pause.] If at all possible, an introduction to the city beyond the incredibly spartan letter and explanation offered by the house staff would be appreciated. I've taken the liberty of browsing some of the messages already posted, of course, but that hardly beats the convenience of having it all rephrased yet again for me, doesn't it?

[He may sound faintly self-mocking. Just faintly, though, and it fades in an instant.]

Besides, it seems like I'm going to be staying here for a while.

[Sudden opening of the city gates or not. And... well, it can't hurt to ask, so after a pause, he does.]

The term "Ragnarok" has come to mean a number of things over the centuries. A selfish man thought it would be the dawn of a new era of peace at the expense of personal freedom and expression. Of course, he wasn't looking at it in those terms, but that's what the result would have been.

Tell me, are our actions here meant to preserve this world from a literal twilight of the gods, a figurative one, or something else?

Comments

audio

[kingside]

At least they can't be as bad as the Greek pantheon?

[hearticulate]

If that were the case I wouldn't be putting any of their omniscient selves on blast. I mean, Christ.

Even if they hail from a slightly more contemporary era, the mythology suggests a kinda brutality you wouldn't want from deities. So, again, fuck their preservation. This shit belongs in history books.

[kingside]

[... That's quite a bit to wade through, and not in the good way. What is he going to do with you?]

I take it you're against assisting in this battle, then.

[hearticulate]

[He just wants to show off okay.]

For now, yeah.

[kingside]

[Unforgivable.]

What would change your mind?

[hearticulate]

[Be impressed with his vocabulary.]

Not sure. First there'd have to be the retraction of fucking with a certain cohort of mine, and likely a multitude of further abjurations for some general dickishness I've been informed of. These "gods" seem to be fairly petty.

[kingside]

[He'd be more impressed if it weren't mixed together with so much vulgarity.]

Could you be more specific about this "general dickishness?" I am a newcomer.

[hearticulate]

[It's just how he rolls.]

Mm. Well, from what I've heard - tick one off and they're liable to apply mutations to your person at will, or possibly toss you into some forest. Basically, whatever they want. 'S like if you gave god powers to a five-year-old.

[kingside]

-- Mutations? What kind of mutations?

[hearticulate]

Some dude got saddled with a pair of nonfunctional wings.

[kingside]

[... Well.]

I take it this is not the only example?

[hearticulate]

Apparently not.

[kingside]

Meaning what?

[hearticulate]

Meaning it's not the only example, just the one I was given the most explicit detail on. I didn't really wanna inquire further.

[kingside]

[... Great.]

What about being tossed into "some forest?" Did you learn more about that?

[hearticulate]

Not really. It was just one of any arbitrary punishments.

[kingside]

Punishments for what?

[hearticulate]

Disobedience. Failure to comply. Rejection of conformity. That sort of thing.

[kingside]

... They're that sensitive?

[hearticulate]

From what I've heard, yeah. Though some of it might just be threat rather than action.

[kingside]

Or perhaps boredom is to blame.

[hearticulate]

... Which isn't much better.

[kingside]

No. I'd argue that it's worse, in fact. At least if it were a justifiable punishment in their minds, we would be able to determine some sort of pattern.

[hearticulate]

Right. There's an erraticism in the whole "I'm bored, fuck your livelihood" thing that makes it difficult to discern what, exactly, they don't like.

Which doesn't seem very godly.

[kingside]

Godly? It's entirely typical of gods from several pantheons. They either toy with mortals directly or bicker amongst themselves with mortals becoming collateral damage.