TEXT

[craftpunk]

I have some important questions.

Poll #19154 An important Quiz

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

View Respondents

How many worlds are there?

View Answers

One.
1 (3.4%)

Innumerable, obviously.
27 (93.1%)

Nine.
1 (3.4%)

What.
0 (0.0%)

Do you still have your powers?

View Answers

Yes
15 (51.7%)

No
7 (24.1%)

None of your business
7 (24.1%)

How do you feel about superpowers?

View Answers

Yes
17 (56.7%)

No
2 (6.7%)

Sod off.
11 (36.7%)

The Patriarchy is...

View Answers

A damaging class system that unfairly marginalizes anyone not a part of the ruling class
13 (50.0%)

The way of the world
4 (15.4%)

The single most damaging system to people of all genders
9 (34.6%)

Imaginary
0 (0.0%)

Which pill?

View Answers

Red Pill
9 (33.3%)

Blue Pill
7 (25.9%)

I don't believe in pharmaceuticals
11 (40.7%)

If you had to live anywhere, would it be...

View Answers

A dark forest
4 (14.3%)

A fjord
2 (7.1%)

A tundra
2 (7.1%)

Mountains
3 (10.7%)

Somewhere modern
17 (60.7%)

What pulls your chariot?

View Answers

Horses
16 (57.1%)

Bulls
4 (14.3%)

Cats
4 (14.3%)

Goats
4 (14.3%)

You solve problems with your:

View Answers

Mind
15 (51.7%)

Fists
5 (17.2%)

Charm
4 (13.8%)

Tricks
5 (17.2%)

Anyone else feeling a little extra powerful, lately?

Comments

[photophobic]

Manipulation of the physical world. The ability to sense... disturbances. Events. Emotional turmoil. The extraction of secrets.

[craftpunk]

Interesting.

Particularly secrets. That seems like a very helpful power.

What if it could all do more?

[photophobic]

I was determined to ensure no-one could lie to me again.

I have yet to complete my training. I am certain with time my power will only increase.

[craftpunk]

Don't like being lied to, huh? Understandable. Nobody does.

Training takes forever, you know. Power can grow much faster in other ways.

[photophobic]

Perhaps. But the suddenly acquisition of power is not always... desirable. To make use of power, it is necessary to learn the methods of harnessing it. Without control, power leads only to destruction.

[craftpunk]

You like control, do you? Not a fan of losing it?

[ REALLY, KYLO...]

[photophobic]

[LOOK THERE IS A WIDE GULF BETWEEN HIS WISHES AND REALITY]

Some things cannot be mastered or controlled.

[craftpunk]

Oh?

Like yourself?

[photophobic]

[Well. That... is a shameless attempt to appeal to his vanity. And he likes it.]
Perhaps.

[craftpunk]

I see.

Do you want to know your results?

[photophobic]

My results?
I didn't realise we were getting marked on our answers.


Why not.

[craftpunk]

Surprise.

Why don't we talk face to...face?

[photophobic]

[Well. He looks over to the door to the bedroom from his sprawled comfort on the sofa, mulling that over. With Hux safely unconscious... Ren is more than free to make all the bad decisions. And besides. He's Kylo Ren. He's fairly certain he can handle himself.

It would be a distraction from feeling so useless, at least.]

Alright.

I can come find you.

[craftpunk]

How about... [ This is the name of a music store.

A really pretentious hipster music store. ]

[photophobic]

[He has no idea what or where that is, but thankfully(?), he can look it up. So he does. And with one last check on Hux to make sure he's sleeping soundly, Kylo Ren is going to the hipster music store. In his battle-torn robes, because while Hux seems to think it's a good idea to blend in, Kylo Ren basically prefers being stared at- and he likes wearing his own clothes.
That, and as he has no idea what the mysterious test-giving stranger looks like, standing out seems a good idea.

He doesn't bother waiting around outside- he strides in and soon finds himself running gloved fingers over the stacks of vinyl albums, drawn to the artwork on the sleeves. Whatever it is they're playing on the store speakers isn't like anything he's heard before - it has a strange, driving rhythm that seems to change halfway through a line of melody. Urgent. Building. Chaotic.

He likes it.]

[craftpunk]

[ Woden makes an Entrance.

It's in a bright burst of a rainbow, almost psychedelic in the way the colors shift, the sparkles, it emanates power and promise, and the man that steps out is only medium height, but that hardly matters. The helmet reflects the lights, before the bifrost dies out behind him, and he stood out, in all his glowing glory.

And the tall man standing out of place was absolutely his next. ]

I suspect you're the one I'm here for.

[photophobic]

[Kylo turns to face the spectacle, his reactions completely naked on his face without the mask he's so used to hiding behind.
It's undeniably impressive- attractive, even. He can't help the way his eyes widen, the way he blinks against the brilliance, the slight catch of breath. There's a pull unlike anything he's experienced before, and he feels it. The power.

It's insanely compelling.

But he doesn't like staring. His eyes narrow, focusing sharply on the impenetrable reflective surface of the stranger's helmet- right where his eyes should be.
He's worn masks. He knows this game. But this... was not what he was expecting.]

You... are not human.

[craftpunk]

Correct. I'm a god.

[ The voice is digitized, filtered. Kylo was likely familiar with that as well, the way one hid from the world with tricks, synthesizers, and masks. Woden stepped forward, passing innumerable albums -- some of which held very dear, very old memories. He could pick up some, and point out the first time he smoked weed, had sex -- the night --

No matter. ]

And you... are fascinating. [ He stopped next to him, and placed his hands on either side of one of the boxes, in front of the records. ] I'm sure you get that a lot.

[photophobic]

A god.

[It was mesmerising. He can feel the tug of the strings, but it works anyway. He wants to laugh- not because the situation is funny, exactly, and certainly not because he finds the man who calls himself a god worthy of mockery- it's something more visceral than that- an impulse.

Fascinating.

Well. He'd been called that once before. Special. It had made a welcome change then, too.

His lips twist in an approximation of a smile- something in between triumph and bitterness.]

Few get the chance to give me an appraisal. Should I be flattered?

[craftpunk]

I certainly don't just shill compliments out like candy.

[ He said, and turned his head, to focus on the man. Wow.

He was tall. Much taller than Woden. The man wasn't short, but Ren towered over him. He wasn't necessarily intimidated, but... it was an intimidating presence. ] Clearly, you need to hear them more often, if you don't get that kind of appraisal more.

[ He didn't really care about his name -- he shouldn't. He was going to get a new one soon enough, but he suspected the man would be curious. He'd want more than just an item and the statement that he would be someone else. Not with power and presence like that. ]

I am called Woden.

[photophobic]

[That earned Woden a far more recognisable smile. A smirk, really. Because while it was almost certainly a line, Ren knew enough about what he was to know it wasn't a lie.
And it was good. Knowing that he could inhabit his role, his destiny with this face. The one that had once belonged to someone else.]

Woden. I am Kylo Ren - and I am no god. But... you sense it. What I am.

[craftpunk]

I do.

[ His helmet tipped, slightly, reflected Kylo Ren's face back at him, perpetual reflection -- an eerie look, no doubt. A blank face was one thing, but your own reflection, your own emotions back at you was something that Woden loved. It always made his job of making people see what they wanted to see so much easier. ]

You're powerful. But you know, you could be a god here. It's not quite as difficult as one would think.

[photophobic]

[Masks are useful, aren't they? But Ren is slowly becoming accustomed to the idea of seeing the ghost of Ben Solo in the mirror. It no longer disquiets him as much as it once had.
Certainly in present company, the sight of that face simply reminds him of his strength. The power he had chosen to claim by shedding a name, rather than a skin.]

Do I strike you as a man afraid of difficulty?

[craftpunk]

No, you don't.

[ His tone is amused, with that. Delighted, practically.

Even that comes out of the vocoder, and the frame turns, slightly, his hands behind his back, and he walks down the aisle, before his fingers grace one album. Something wispy, something...much more modern. Amy. ]

Where I come from, we gods give up the rest of our lives to become who we are. We have a two-year limit. I intend to surpass that, and it's been a constant for centuries.

So I, too, am used to overcoming strife.

[photophobic]

[Ren follows him with his eyes, not his feet. He's intrigued, yes, but not yet eager.]

Your old life in its entirety, for two years of this life?

[It seems a hefty price to Kylo. He's not certain why anyone would choose to enter into such a bargain... the power on offer would have to be immense.]

Sacrifice is always required for any power worth holding- though it sounds as if you intend to bend the rules.