(no subject)

[photophobic]

[ There's something very different about Kylo today. Partially, it's the costuming and warpaint- along with his face, his bared chest and shoulders are decorated with fingertip thick lines in the red and dark grey of blood and ash, and he's wearing some kind of elaborate golden crown, a headdress that looks like it belongs in a cursed tomb in a movie. The effect is such that it isn't easy to tell that this is the same person who once called himself Kylo Ren.

It isn't immediately obvious where he is, either- behind him is a blood red curtain, and behind that, the sound of screams. But these aren't screams of pain and terror. It's a crowd- a fairly sizeable one, and they're clearly finished waiting.
Someone in the crowd starts clapping their hands- a slow, steady rhythm, and it isn't long before others begin to join in. Clapping. Stamping. Yelling. ]

Have you ever had a moment of perfect clarity?

[ Kylo's eyes close for a moment as he savours the atmosphere, the sounds, the building anticipation. Heady electronic music begins to swell, primal and rhythmic. ]

I am about to give them one.
Like many of you, these people have been told they are weak. They have been told that they are nothing. They have been told these things for so long that they begin to believe it themselves.

Listen. Do you hear them? These are the voices of the wronged, the ignored, the silenced. Accepting the lies they have been crushed under, their suffering goes unheard. They are the unnoticed.

But not to me. I see them all.
I see you, too.

Come. Be strengthened. I will not turn you away.

[ And with that, he turns. The curtain between him and his audience bursts into flame and disintegrates- there's a brief view of the awed faces of the front row, jostling to be closest to the stage, but those behind are drowned out by the brilliance of the stage lights. ]

Comments

action.

[craftpunk]

[ Woden likes to watch.

That's always been the case. Here, he even helps, his fingers do not so much move like he has been running the synthesizer, but instead that he imbued it with more power, letting the deep thrums and electric sighs accompany Menhit's music.

Because he can, and because having this power over Kylo Ren is particularly addicting. ]

They love you, you know.

[ He said, as if the rush of people trying to push toward the stage wasn't obvious. The guards kept them at bay -- barely. ]

[photophobic]

[ The comment is oddly jarring. Menhit's head swings towards the source, dark eyes scrutinising their own reflection in Woden's helmet.
They love you, Woden says, but that isn't what catches Menhit's attention. Most of what Woden means to say lies in the space between his words and the thoughts they draw out from the listener.

Isn't this better? he probably means. Haven't I made you into something better? Look at their faces. Has anyone ever loved you like that, before me? Before I remade you into something magnificent?

Menhit looks back over the crowd, spreading his arms wide in welcome. He feels magnificent. Adored. And he doesn't hate the satisfaction he can feel seeping out from Woden, either. ]

There is no shame.

[ His voice is deep and loud, powerful and clear. A silence falls on the crowd, broken only by the sounds of someone, somewhere in that tangle of bodies, sobbing. With relief? Relief, yes, and fear... a pain, held onto for so long-- ]

I see no weakness- I see strength. Resolve. I see the power... in each of you.

[ It's coming. He feels the song begin in his core- it's such raw freedom, such violent joy, such longed for release-- the forgotten seed pushing up through the concrete, the crackling burst of his lightsaber searing into life--
He opens his mouth and it pours out. ]

[craftpunk]

[ This was so much better, this was the Kylo Ren that didn't taunt and tease, or lord over his knowledge of Woden's identity over his head. This was the sum of his parts, without the unpleasantries that Woden had found lay beneath, the uncomfortable truth that Kylo often tried to force to the forefront.

Woden had attempted to manipulate him, change him, but this was better, so much better, and the satisfaction he radiated was palpable on the air. He knew that this was better. Menhit could feel it, and Woden... Well, he loved watching the way he reacted to it. To them, the way they throbbed and surged, and moved forward, trying to get a little piece of this supposed god. ]

Will you show them the way?

[ He asked, his voice painfully soft, only for Menhit's ears, not for the other people. Like Ananke before him, he saw himself as the spider, perched on the web, waiting for his next meal, and manipulating from the shadows. His fingers placed back on the synthesizer, the pulsing beat picked up, and then slowed down, with the mood and cadence of his voice, echoing it back to them. He watched him stand before them, like their savior.

Their God. ]

[therewillbeorder]

Hold still.

[Normally Hux would have made a face at getting his hands so bloody but today was not normal. Not in the least.

He carefully wiped the blood from his knife before reaching up to smear the blood in messy streaks under each of Ren's eyes. The crowd could try to get close but Ren belonged to him alone.

He trailed his fingers down Ren's cheek, never breaking eye contact.]

Better.

[photophobic]

[ He dipped his head slightly to accept Hux's adjustments- a gesture more like accepting an offering than obeying an order. As far as he could tell, he hadn't smudged his warpaint at all during the performance, but-- well.

Hux hadn't changed that much, and it cost very little to indulge him. ]

More acceptable to you?

Voice

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Well shit, you too. [It isn't like Luci has met this guy before, but she's seen him around Hades enough to know that this is probably bad news for Laura.]

voice;

[photophobic]

[ Bad news? This guy? Never. ]

It's been a long time. But there's no need for concern- I have no quarrel with you. Any of you.

[ video ]

[nightmarist]

Fuck, that's some style.

video;

[photophobic]

[ A slow, pleased smile spreads over his face. Ordinarily, Kylo would be suspicious of any such comment, wondering if it was a joke at his expense- but Kylo-as-Menhit has no such concerns, especially not after a performance like that one. ]

I wouldn't want to become predictable.

text;

[pillz]

r u here to convince us we r strong
that wat makes these other dipshits say we weak is actulaly what makes us strong?a

voice;

[photophobic]

People will say you are weak because you are strong, and they fear strength. You possess it; is a quality they cannot take from you. But they can make you believe that your strength is a lie, or that you have no right to claim it.

I am here because I am meant to be here. I have no need to convince or persuade. But what I will give anyone who comes to me is a moment of unclouded vision, a moment in which they can see themselves as they truly are.

Voice

[dun_moch]

[The Count's voice is hushed, uncharacteristically reverent. Menthit's power resonates within him.]

I hear you. I hear your strength.

voice;

[photophobic]

[ Of course. Of course, Dooku would hear the call and feel drawn to it. Satisfaction swells in his voice. ]

You hear it because it lives in you too. Do you feel it, Count? The time for suffering indignities is over.

video

[am_i_a_monster]

[Abigail watches him and the crowd with skepticism and concern.]

It's been my experience that being built up or strengthened only leads to being crushed again. How do you know you're not just getting them riled up to be disappointed? Or worse?

video

[photophobic]

These are my people. I know what they are capable of, if they will listen to the strength in their hearts over the lies of those who seek to limit them.

I offer no promises beyond a moment of truth. What they choose to do with that truth is in their hands.

video;

[rekt]

[ so, john murphy is all these things, but he's also cynical and distrusting as hell, so: ]

Sound like a cult.

video;

[photophobic]

[ Well. That... is a familiar face, isn't it? His curiosity is piqued. He doesn't look too upset by the accusation, either. ]

It does. Are you asking me what I get out of the arrangement?

voice; un: Ash Starmer | Green Newman

[subroutined]

[ It's Kylo. The makeup makes Green's facial recognition software hiccup for a moment, but the voice is there, as is the name attached to the broadcast. The sounds of the crowd remind him of that one time he went to Persephone's concert, only this sounds more... rough edged. Raw. Like untreated anger and violence.

It sounds dangerous, but... Kylo's words are tempting. He doesn't want to go unheard anymore. He wants to give voice to his suffering and mistreatment.

He doesn't quite know how to reply, so all he asks is a single word question: ] Where?

voice;

[photophobic]

Yes.
Yes, you are one of mine. Come.

[ He sends an address: a venue in Maurita Falls. ]

For the next hour.

Voice

[drivesadesk]

What are you doing? Where are you?

voice;

[photophobic]

I am holding communion in Maurtia Falls.
Who are you? You seem concerned.

LET'S PRETEND IM NOT LATE COOL THANKS also private

[notgood]

You too?

Listen, as your lawyer, if you pull any shit right now, I'm not going to be very fun to be around if you get arrested or sued.

[But he signed a contract. So he will still represent him, and Hux as well.

That doesn't mean he has to be happy about it.]

NOTED <3

[photophobic]

There's no need for concern. I am a God, and I assure you. I can't be arrested.

[ So reassuring, right? ]

Video

[pummelgranite]

[ She doesn't catch this until the song is already over and done with. There's a flare of possessiveness in her chest, and disappointment in herself that she didn't see it sooner. Could she have stopped him? ]

Having fun?

video

[photophobic]

[ He offers her a smile- slow and satisfied. ]

I'm doing what I was made to do. There's nothing better.