maskormenace | 07

Entry tags:

07 | video

[it's quite late at night when this video goes up. there's no thematic reason for the timing - Lapis has simply been up here alone with her thoughts for quite a while at this point, and only now collected herself enough to feel strong enough for social interaction.

when the feed clicks on to show where 'here' is, it's easy to understand the sentiment. the camera displays the dazzling expanse of the galaxy from an up close and personal angle, bobbing gently up and down to the beat of unseen wings. it's quiet for a time, in the velvety way only space can provide, before her voice cuts through it.]

We don't make patterns out of stars where I'm from - we don't even really name them. It's just sorted by cut and facet, so that you can find things as efficiently as possible.

...I guess if we had to stare up at the same sky every night for thousands of years it might've been different.

[the camera swings slightly to focus in on a cluster of stars which ought to be familiar to any resident of earth, even with the uncharacteristic closeup.]

Apparently humans call that one Scorpius? They think it used to be some kind of big monster until it got in a fight. [she pauses for a moment, a little uncertain.] I'm not really sure any of them know what stars are actually made of.

[Lapis flits the camera around to showcase a few more constellations: Libra, Centaurus, Lupus... it's difficult to tell whether she's doing it for the viewers at home or simply her own amusement, but it's beautiful all the same.]

You have to travel a lot further out than most people realize to lose shapes like that. There's nowhere in this system that you could look from and not know where you are; wherever you go, you can always find your way back.

There are places in other worlds that just don't exist here, though. Do you think there's anything left at the end of those paths?

[there's clearly something aside from galactic scenery weighing on Lapis' mind, but she keeps whatever's prompted this trip to herself. after another panoramic view of the stars, she wordlessly clicks the feed off.]

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[So it wasn't that Gran and Ulvida hadn't thought to share their world with Lapis, but that they'd been sent back home before they could. No wonder she had said no when he'd offered to play with her. Sakuma would have been just as reluctant to let anyone fill the shoes of his closest friends. Even angry with anyone who dared to try.]

Gran was a beginner once. So was I. Everyone starts at the beginning, Lazuli-san.

[Which is to say, there isn't any shame in that. But he suspects that isn't the problem here, that she'd wanted to learn from her friend — from someone she felt a kinship with.]

What did he tell you about soccer?

He said that the sea lions could probably play it.

[well, they'd both sort of puzzled that out together, but the point remained. it seems almost like a non sequitur of an answer given the rest of the conversation, but the textual format hides the utter seriousness with which Lapis has typed this out. to her, it's just as important as her previous replies.]

[Okay, that's probably true, but Kiyama, please...]

Anything else?

He brought some balls to the aquarium for them and one for me.

[this is going to be a really uphill battle, Sakuma.]

[So she most likely has her own soccer ball. That's good.

What's not so good is the fact the communication barrier seems to breaking down already...but he supposes that was only a matter of time.]

I mean, did Gran tell you anything else about soccer?

He said that everyone played it a little differently. But I guess that's kind of a given.

[Lapis and Gran's conversations involved a lot more abstract discussion than anything concrete. while it was wonderful for the pair of them, it didn't lend itself well to actual framework for another to take upon themselves - most of the details of things like soccer had been assumed to be discussed later.]

It seems like he taught you something about soccer after all.

[Whether or not it's a given, what matters is that Gran spoke to Lapis about more than sea lions playing soccer. Sakuma can work with that.]

In fact, that's actually a more important lesson than you might think. You have to find your own soccer, Lazuli-san. And you can only do that by trying.

[Which, considering her very nature, might be hard for her, but not impossible. After all, not everyone's idea of soccer was purely individualistic. For example, despite their individual strengths and weaknesses, Teikoku's soccer was based on perfect synchronicity and teamwork.]

I already know where I keep the soccer ball, though. That's not really something I have to try to remember.

['hard' is something of an understatement, friend. but at least she's...probably trying.]

That's not what I mean.

A soccer ball is just a ball. But soccer itself is more than that. It's a game. A sport. a way of life. A world. And for Gran and Ulvida, and even myself

[And Kidou and Genda, and everyone else they've left waiting for them back home...]

soccer is the soul.

It's the thing that makes us who we are.

[That's why it's next to impossible to lie through soccer. True feelings always passed through the ball and to other players. There wasn't anywhere to hide on the field, but instead of being terrifying, the notion was liberating. Because it was the same for everyone. It was a place of true belonging.]

[it is, perhaps, one of the easiest things that a human has said to her which she can apply an analogue from home to. just once, Lapis doesn't need to ask for clarification, because she knows immediately what this must be like: her gemstone.

her gem was more than just the core of her being - it contained the essence of everything which she'd experienced, the entire culture she'd been created for. on Homeworld, all it took was a single glance at someone's gem to immediately know their place, their loyalty. it represented a will to exist so vigorous that it could power machinery long after death, even in its most diminished form.

gems may be a race of relative immortals, but their one vulnerability was constantly within sight. perhaps that fierce pride was what made them so powerful.

even so, it was a self-contained existence. and so, despite the painful throb of synchronicity she feels, Lapis can't help but voice her misgivings.]

That seems awfully risky.

[to put one's sense of self in the hands of others...she couldn't imagine doing that again on such a scale. it seemed completely unsustainable.]

[Probably, Midorikawa would have had a suitably inspirational quote to provide at a time like this, but all Sakuma has is...]

You can't win if you don't shoot for the goal.

[In other words, risk is essential to progress.]

I thought the goal was to win..?

[oh boy.]

[...oh boy, indeed.]

Well, it is. But the word "goal" has multiple meanings. It can refer to something you strive to achieve, like an objective or a point, or it can refer to a designated area players of a sport aim to score on. Can you see the correlation?

In soccer, that area can be referred to as a goal area or the net.

Each team has its own, each at opposing ends of the field, and they try to score goals on their opponent's goalkeeper who guards the goal area.

Oh.

[so, like-]

The goalkeeper must have to be pretty strong if they're defending an area from a whole group by themselves.

[i-it's not an actual battle, Lapis...]

[It might not be life or death (in most cases, anyway) but it totally is a battle.

Goalkeepers put up with so much abuse, it's kind of insane. Having strength enough to stop certain shoots, stamina enough to keep up with rapid close-quarters plays meant to lure them out of a position that would stop the opposing team from scoring, carrying the hope of every single team member upon their shoulders...

They're nothing short of incredible.]

Correct!

Of course, goalkeepers are assisted by the rest of the team, but primarily the players who occupy the position of defenders who are initially placed closest to the goal line. They're the last line of defense before the ball reaches the goal area, and if the ball should get past them, then it's up to the goalkeeper to prevent the other team from scoring a goal. Also, a goalkeeper is the only player allowed to touch the ball with his hands.

[so, like a quartz flanked by rubies. that seemed like a pretty standard battle formawait what.]

Is there something wrong with everyone else's?

Of course not, it's just against the rules for everyone else but the goalkeeper to handle the ball with their hands.

The rest of the players use their feet, which is why in some countries the sport is known as football.

Not to be confused with the football that's played with a brown ball and that America seems obsessed with.

[He's not biased or anything.]

[there is so much to unpack here that Lapis really isn't sure where to start. it is only through monumental effort and the unique vulnerability that comes from recent loss that she actually makes the effort to continue.]

Are all their powers in their feet or something? That seems really inefficient.

[Their powers...

Guess who didn't really consider talking about those with Lapis?]

No...

[How to explain in a way that's both clear but also allows him to keep from talking about hissatsu in any great detail?]

Regular players can head the ball as well, or use their chest or their knees. But the goalkeeper being the only one allowed to use his hands is part of what sets him apart from the rest of the team.

But that's all artificial. Shouldn't he be special just because he's better than the others at defending?

[What the...

It's a good thing he's srs bsns about soccer or he'd be grumbling right about now.]

He's not better, he just plays a different position.

Soccer is a team sport. A goal made by a striker is a goal made by the whole team because they work together to bring the ball down the field. Just like a goal saved by the goalkeeper is one saved by the whole team, because they all work together to prevent the other team from successfully shooting.

No one is alone in soccer. A good player, regardless of his position, always keeps that in mind.

Then why is the rest of the team handicapping themselves? Shouldn't they want to make things easier for the person doing all the defending?

Like I said...

He isn't doing all the defending. Soccer is a team effort. A goalkeeper is the final defense, but not the only one.

In any case, that's how the sport was invented. Players don't use their hands so it's more challenging, and the goalkeeper can use his for the same reason. It makes it harder for the other team to score if the ways in which he can block the net are increased.

But it'd be harder for them to score if everyone could use their hands, too.

[she just can't let go of this. 'because' is just an unacceptable answer for something so bizarrely specific and limiting. there had to be another reason. humans couldn't be this weird. right? right???]

Haven't you ever played a game before? Any game at all?

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