video | un: flowercrown

[floralias]

(( Today when Will takes to the network, he looks a little more serious than usual. There's a some weariness around his features, like he didn't get a good night's rest. But he cards his fingers through his hair to push it back and he manages a soft smile when he looks into the camera. ))

I'm curious.

There are people here from so many different places and times with so many different expectations about social interactions. So, I'm really curious. What's considered right and good behavior when and where you come from? What's polite? What's rude? What's something one could get away with but could be questionable? Is there some sort of social hierarchy?

Comments

[jc_superstar]

[ He thinks about it. ]

Where I am from, you honor your elders. You do not destroy what your parents have made. There is a goal to reach perfection-immortality as some may say.

[ He focuses back. ]

That does not mean that your elders are correct or without fault. Being Filial does not mean your elders are correct.

[floralias]

How does one identify elders? Is it just those who are related by blood who are older? What if someone is only a year or two older than you? As I told another, in my current place and time if you guess someone's age and you're wrong, it could be an insult to them.

[jc_superstar]

Yes.

[He nods to further confirm that.]

Those related to you by blood carry more respect than those simply older. Rank also plays a part.

My martial brother is five days older than I, and yet he is still my gege, even though I am leader to the sect. Defining that relationship is... complicated.

And sometimes, it holds true for my people. To show disrespect to an elder is to insult them.

[floralias]

But what if an elder looks like me? I'd rather let people think I'm a cute 20-something than tell my real age. Should I feel insulted that people don't revere me as an elder?

[jc_superstar]

Do you want to be insulted?

[He doesn't seem ill at ease on the chance that Will is older than he appears. Hello Cultivators. ]

You can do whatever you want. You're an elder. If you don't care, then don't care. Mostly, you've achieved age and wisdom over your juniors.

[floralias]

(( Will doesn't care, personally. He was once a great Lord among the Fae and he definitely hasn't brought any of that ego with him when he was exiled from the Court. ))

Oh, it takes a lot to actually insult me, personally. Well, maybe not a lot. Disrespecting my loved ones is the fast track to it. But I think different people have different ideas of respect and honor are. Wouldn't you agree?

[jc_superstar]

Yes, everyone has different opinions on it. [ That he agrees on. But he thinks of something else.]

However, there should be a measure of compassion. There are so many different people here with so many different cultures and habits that if someone is not giving others leniency because they don't know or they don't understand, it doesn't matter if that person is over a thousand years old. They have learned nothing and are not wise.

[He knows how immortality should work. How elders should treat their juniors. It doesn't happen all the time.]

[floralias]

(( Will bobs his head in agreement. He knows for a fact that age is no indication of experience. Many ancient Fae didn't understand a thing outside their own specific realm of influence. Some refused to set a toe in the human world but then dared to make bold proclamations about it and its inhabitants. How could anyone who isolated themselves and refused to learn about anything different from their own experience claim to be wise? ))

You have some wisdom.

[jc_superstar]

[ There's a half lopsided smirk/smile. ]

I have some age.

[Actually... older than all of his kith and kin from his world. The smirk fades slightly. ]

Being a sect leader, I think, forces you to look at all the angles. There is never truly a clear answer to any question.

[floralias]

Mm. Leadership does force one to look at things differently. You have to consider what does the most good and the least harm for all involved, not just focus on one's own wants and needs.

[jc_superstar]

Yes. Not everyone is equipped to be a leader. Or to have the understanding that it is never your feelings that come first.

[floralias]

It must be a strange change to be in a place where you don't have that responsibility. You must be worried about your people.

[jc_superstar]

[ There's a small but sincere smile. This man understands?! ]

Yes. I think about them daily. I worried much more when I first arrived but as I came to understand this place, they are safe and unknowing that my absence should be noted.

[ Takes a breath, considers his next words, then just--dives in. ]

I could never comprehend how or why others would want to build spaces to emulate what they had at home--gentry wise. I still don't to this day. Why replicate something of that magnitude when the things who made that place home are not there?

[Someone may have forgotten this isn't a private feed. And that he's unloading. ]

Of all the people who left me, they didn't. I left them. I didn't want to, but it happened, sooner than I would have liked. But as long as it's confirmed they're okay, then I will keep myself okay until I can return to them.

[ What's never said aloud is the fact that it's all he has left, his sect. ]

[floralias]

(( Will listens intently, nodding here and there to show his attention. It tells him a lot: Wanyin values people over nostalgia. Will can understand that. Places are fine, but it's the people who tend to make them memorable. ))

Your people are fortunate to have a leader like you, Wanyin.

[jc_superstar]

Maybe.

[He doesn't think so. There were people he felt were more capable than he. But they couldn't take the position. ]

I don't think I'll ever see it like that. I am what was left of possible options and in the end, it was blood that made me the leader, not skill or aptitude.

[floralias]

That may be true, but you're cognizant of that fact. I can tell you care about your people and I have no doubt they respect you for more than just your blood.

[jc_superstar]

[ True or not, that was just a little too much attention on him than he was comfortable with. ]

You sound like someone who knows something about taking care of people and leading them.

[ Let's shift some of that attention away form him.]

[floralias]

Mmm. Just a little.

(( The smile that follows is bittersweet. ))

I used to be a leader of my people. A long time ago.

[jc_superstar]

[And there were many reasons why someone lost leadership.]

I am sorry.

[He truly is. And he bows his head in sympathy. ]

How have you managed to find another identity? Another reason to keep going?

[floralias]

Love.

(( The answer's simple, but for Will it's absolutely true. ))

Love for people. Love for beauty. Love for life. There's so much to appreciate and so much to enjoy: the first blooms of spring, art and music, the way lovers look at each other. It's all these small things that make like worth living for me.

[jc_superstar]

[ He gives a small smile. ]

That does not sound like a bad way to live. I would like to find that one day.

[floralias]

(( Will laughs. ))

Well, it probably helps that I'm a bit of a hedonist. I was built for enjoyment.

[jc_superstar]

[ And that draws a soft laugh from him. ]

Reminds me of a dear friend I once had.

[floralias]

Hopefully we can be dear friends someday.

[jc_superstar]

Yeah. Me too.