[GOD THERE ARE SO MANY CULT BACKSTORIES HAPPENING IN THIS GAME.
Well. This is terrible - or terrible in the aftermath, anyway, when he comes back to himself and his own emotions. In the moment, feeling nothing is perhaps better than feeling something. Looking back on it, that lack of emotion is a scary thing.
The question, too. Though, at the same time... Another memory comes to the surface.]
[ Have you ever felt complete zen with a dead middle schooler in your arms? Satoru isn't disturbed to see the memory again and boldly not ashamed for it to show to others. It's of the past, a moment long gone and a moment washed away.
Whether he understands the importance of that singular moment and how it shaped his morality, he is but eighteen. ]
[HE IS BUT EIGHTEEN, NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING DONE COOKING YET!!! Also being zen with a dead middle schooler in your arms is a terrible experience -10/10 does not recommend at all.
He's also quiet for a second before shaking his head.]
... So he saw her die, huh. [ He goes quiet at that. It must have been hard for Suguru. ] If we had the choice, we wouldn't be showing these! So don't blame us too much.
... Then we need to come off as stable and sane so they don't get what they want!
[ this is nearly impossible. He goes silent at that despite the candor so far, unsure with what to do with that information. Riko is gone and so was the future she could have had. ]
I do. Aside from Riko, where Suguru and I come from... [ Genuinely and sincerely, despite being the goblin that he is. ] It isn't great at supporting the younger generations, either.
[ With an addition, ]
I have no plans to kill a bunch of people, by the way. I was delirious at the time.
It did feel like a very strange state to be in. [Just. DISSOCIATION!!!! He's not familiar with that at all it's fine.]
I'm glad to hear that, nevertheless. And I do hope that you succeed in changing things. The future only changes through those who take action to do so, after all, and you seem like someone who would.
Wouldn't recommend it! [ A state where if someone told you to do something, you probably would do it. ] I don't like waiting around for something to happen or change, so you're right about that.
[He can imagine it doesn't come with a high recommended rating! Terrible state to exist in!]
I can't say I enjoy waiting for change, either. [Another go-getter...] It isn't a terrible thing to exert patience where needed, but changes don't always - or often - happen without prompting.
[There's just a little faint smile at the first part. They're comrades now! As for the second:]
...You can imagine, I'm sure, that a place where death is optional often fails to value life itself. I wish for the children to understand the importance of living, even if it means embracing the difficult things that come with having a human heart. Our nation would be better for it, and life would be better for them, in turn.
[And then, curiously:] What are you wishing to change?
Yeah. We talked about it a bit before. [ So he listens with interest... ] So you're going on the path to be a teacher, or something like that?
[ IS IT HIS TIME TO YAP? ]
I need to restructure jujutsu society—the elders are old crones, stuck in their ways, and I don't even think they care as long as they can stay in power. How different are we from the insane cults if we also wanted to erase the girl? Good intentions, sure... But they didn't even consider alternatives. [ ... ] I'm thinking of being a teacher, too! Passing on what I know about the field and exorcism, the younger generations will be even stronger... Physically, spiritually, and mentally.
If everyone is strong, then no one will need to know loneliness.
[HE'S LIKE 90 YEARS OLD IN ARPECHELE TERMS HE'S PAST RETIREMENT AGE HE'S BEEN TEACHING FOR SO LONG.
That said, this is something he genuinely loves hearing because it aligns pretty well with his own vision of the world and his own belief in how it should be fixed. Sometimes, a society needs to be restructured because the corruption starts at the top and trickles down!]
So no one will need to know loneliness... What a lovely vision. [A lil nod.] I think you should become one, if you're already considering it. Working with children is a very rewarding experience. You'll learn quite a bit, yourself, and be able to pass on the important things that can change a society in turn.
I guess with your guys' lifespan, this would make sense.
[ Satoru really is here like Lucas still seems young, but the span of their lives are very different... Maturity, it's relative. Aside from that, he wasn't expecting to find a teaching kindred spirit in cultville. ]
Rewarding, huh... I hope so. I'm kind of dreading it since I don't like brats.
[ Just confesses this, but maybe it doesn't have a lot of backing when he still searched for Riko's body. ]
He just smiles, though! It is good... to be talking to a fellow teacher-minded person. It's the teacher bond...]
I'll certainly do my best not to. I have to return to Nadia, after all. [Canned audience laughter.] But... I suppose the biggest note I can give is to encourage their ability to critically think. To observe the world around them and weigh their options carefully, and to understand what moving forward with their own convictions look like. It's one of the best skills that you can teach a child. [A beat.] If you're working with very young ones, be prepared for them to reach for your eyes often, too.
I guess I can translate that into combat somehow...
[ He hadn't considered becoming any sort of lifestyle teacher, but perhaps? This works? For raising Megumi??? Who is independent enough already and doesn't need to be raised?
So much to think about and Lucas gives him so many things to question?? ]
I'll be wearing sunglasses or some kind of blindfold because of how my eyes are at home, but... Is there a story behind this?
You can find a way to incorporate that lesson into anything, my dear.
[Combat! Math! Science! The arts! Making puppets out of paper lunch bags! It's all about the creativity... Enjoy the many new questions.]
Ah, no particular story. The young ones enjoy getting their little fingers and hands everywhere they oughtn't, and they appear especially attracted to brightly colored things.
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Well. This is terrible - or terrible in the aftermath, anyway, when he comes back to himself and his own emotions. In the moment, feeling nothing is perhaps better than feeling something. Looking back on it, that lack of emotion is a scary thing.
The question, too. Though, at the same time... Another memory comes to the surface.]
...Was that Riko?
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Whether he understands the importance of that singular moment and how it shaped his morality, he is but eighteen. ]
... Yeah, it is. Heard about her from Suguru?
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He's also quiet for a second before shaking his head.]
I saw her die.
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[ Just with nonchalance. ]
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I don't blame anyone for having their minds and pasts invaded like this, against their will.
[If anything, he feels guilty for seeing it, even though that's not his fault either. But yeah! Surprise!]
...She was just-- so young.
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[ Satoru doesn't know that the weekly effects truly are nonsensical and magical whimsy. ]
She was and she was destined to die anyway, but... If she told us she didn't want to go through with it, we would have figured something out.
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I wouldn't be surprised if that happened to be the case. That, or they simply enjoy the idea that we're struggling.
[VOYEURS AND SADISTS.]
...She reached back. Before the end... He had given her that choice. The choice to leave.
[And she had chosen to go with them.]
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[ this is nearly impossible. He goes silent at that despite the candor so far, unsure with what to do with that information. Riko is gone and so was the future she could have had. ]
Lucas, do you think your world should change?
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There are enough stubborn people in this group that they may just pull it off.
[They Will Not. The sudden question seems to take him by surprise, though. His answer still comes swiftly.]
I do. [He thinks his island has so many fucking problems.] The future can always be bettered for the children. Do you?
[Is his idea of change slaughtering a wholeass cult??]
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[ With an addition, ]
I have no plans to kill a bunch of people, by the way. I was delirious at the time.
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It did feel like a very strange state to be in. [Just. DISSOCIATION!!!! He's not familiar with that at all it's fine.]
I'm glad to hear that, nevertheless. And I do hope that you succeed in changing things. The future only changes through those who take action to do so, after all, and you seem like someone who would.
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What about you?
[ Are you a go-getter... ]
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I can't say I enjoy waiting for change, either. [Another go-getter...] It isn't a terrible thing to exert patience where needed, but changes don't always - or often - happen without prompting.
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[ No, you two are not, but Satoru sees it as similar in a way that matters. ]
What're you looking to change, anyway?
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...You can imagine, I'm sure, that a place where death is optional often fails to value life itself. I wish for the children to understand the importance of living, even if it means embracing the difficult things that come with having a human heart. Our nation would be better for it, and life would be better for them, in turn.
[And then, curiously:] What are you wishing to change?
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[ IS IT HIS TIME TO YAP? ]
I need to restructure jujutsu society—the elders are old crones, stuck in their ways, and I don't even think they care as long as they can stay in power. How different are we from the insane cults if we also wanted to erase the girl? Good intentions, sure... But they didn't even consider alternatives. [ ... ] I'm thinking of being a teacher, too! Passing on what I know about the field and exorcism, the younger generations will be even stronger... Physically, spiritually, and mentally.
If everyone is strong, then no one will need to know loneliness.
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[HE'S LIKE 90 YEARS OLD IN ARPECHELE TERMS HE'S PAST RETIREMENT AGE HE'S BEEN TEACHING FOR SO LONG.
That said, this is something he genuinely loves hearing because it aligns pretty well with his own vision of the world and his own belief in how it should be fixed. Sometimes, a society needs to be restructured because the corruption starts at the top and trickles down!]
So no one will need to know loneliness... What a lovely vision. [A lil nod.] I think you should become one, if you're already considering it. Working with children is a very rewarding experience. You'll learn quite a bit, yourself, and be able to pass on the important things that can change a society in turn.
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[ Satoru really is here like Lucas still seems young, but the span of their lives are very different... Maturity, it's relative. Aside from that, he wasn't expecting to find a teaching kindred spirit in cultville. ]
Rewarding, huh... I hope so. I'm kind of dreading it since I don't like brats.
[ Just confesses this, but maybe it doesn't have a lot of backing when he still searched for Riko's body. ]
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Ah, is that so? You may struggle a little, then... [Though he says it with a mostly teasing air.] They'll grow on you, though, I feel.
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Grimaces like he doesn't want to grow attached to them, but also looks resigned that it'll be his future. He perks up after. ]
Since you're experienced, do you have any notes? Hopefully, you don't go dying like Nehan did when I asked him for guardianship notes.
[ gojo later like hm I see so we should never have notes ]
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He just smiles, though! It is good... to be talking to a fellow teacher-minded person. It's the teacher bond...]
I'll certainly do my best not to. I have to return to Nadia, after all. [Canned audience laughter.] But... I suppose the biggest note I can give is to encourage their ability to critically think. To observe the world around them and weigh their options carefully, and to understand what moving forward with their own convictions look like. It's one of the best skills that you can teach a child. [A beat.] If you're working with very young ones, be prepared for them to reach for your eyes often, too.
[IT'S THE BLUE EYES... KIDS LOVE POKING THEM.]
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[ He hadn't considered becoming any sort of lifestyle teacher, but perhaps? This works? For raising Megumi??? Who is independent enough already and doesn't need to be raised?
So much to think about and Lucas gives him so many things to question?? ]
I'll be wearing sunglasses or some kind of blindfold because of how my eyes are at home, but... Is there a story behind this?
[ Looks at Lucas' freaky blue eyes. ]
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[Combat! Math! Science! The arts! Making puppets out of paper lunch bags! It's all about the creativity... Enjoy the many new questions.]
Ah, no particular story. The young ones enjoy getting their little fingers and hands everywhere they oughtn't, and they appear especially attracted to brightly colored things.
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Does this include this Nadia?
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Oh, Nadia was such a darling child from the moment she was born. She would never do that.
[BUT OTHER CHILDREN ARE GREMLINS. Not his perfect angel darling girl Nadia, though.]
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