@ANONYMOUS

[appeale]

hey. what's your shadow like?

trust me i get why nobody wants to talk about this whole thing. neither do i. but it kinda seems like we ought to compare notes and we can do it anonymous. or you can just use this to vent about how your shadow's an asshole idc

mostly i just keep seeing people say stupid shit and claim it was their shadow and i can't tell if this is just a case of your_experiences_are_not_universal.jpeg (sorry. obviously i don't have the meme on me) or if i'm going crazy. bcuz mine is so quiet i can't even tell it's there usually. so what's the deal???

(before you say i must be a good person who doesn't have much of a dark side: lol. but i'm not some evil psychopath who already acts on their worst impulses either)

and has anyone had any luck getting theirs to fuck off?

Comments

[unalign]

Perhaps it's tied to our personalities. Or perhaps it takes the voice of something or someone familiar so it's easier to sway us towards its intended goal.

More or less. It managed to take over for a moment, but you could say I fought back for control.

[appeale]

that much is definitely true. @zagreus has heard it speak to him in the voices of people he knew back home, and i have as well. some things just hit harder when you hear them from someone else instead of yourself

this seems like a stupid question but: can you describe how it felt? i just want to know if i could do the same...

[unalign]

I agree. This place seems to exist to collectively mess with us.

How it felt like losing control or fighting back?

[appeale]

why, though!!!! is it punishment? are we in hell being tormented for our sins??? then why is everything else so normal the rest of the time? why do some people get out? why can you die AGAIN? why is it ONLY us and not everyone else in the universe????? aaaaaaaaaaa

both? i've had it take over my body once but i barely noticed anything

[unalign]

[ this person needs to take a chill pill but tbh she makes good points ]

I wish I can answer those questions. I don't even know if this is indeed hell or the afterlife, or if this is just another world you fall into.

I barely noticed anything either, but I've noticed that it's always been preluded by certain thoughts, the same things the voice had been saying in my head. I suppose I only realized it when it felt like I was looking at the events unfolding before me as if I were a spectator than someone in control.

[appeale]

there must be a reason that everyone here before us is so sure we're all dead. if it was another world, why wouldn't they just call it that?

ah.... yeah that sounds similar to when it happened to me. i was still in my body but it was moving on its own. so how'd you resist it?

[unalign]

That's what I'd like to know, especially when a number of us can't remember how we died or got killed.

I had a mental fight with it, you could say. It's really more of a struggle, like trying to grab the reins of a runaway horse from the person you're riding with while doing your best not to fall off.

[appeale]

unfortunately the hierarchy are a bunch of useless bastards and nobody else is helpful at all so good luck to us on figuring any of it out

well. i'm pretty good at horse riding. maybe that will help. (just kidding i'm screwed)

[unalign]

Amun certainly is very good at deflecting questions, I learned. And they're all either hiding something or they're completely clueless. I'm placing my bets on the former.

It's all about mental fortitude. How strong do you think you are compared to your Shadow in terms of resisting the temptation?

[appeale]

idk it's possible all the normal people are just kept in the dark and the hierarchy are the only shady ones. they're all still annoying either way

uhhhh what temptation??? mine doesn't really try to tempt me into anything. mostly it just bullies me. but i'm pretty good at enduring bullshit

[ anonymity or not, she doesn't want to admit to this stranger that when it does encourage her in a specific direction, her shadow only seems interested in telling her to do things she was already going to do anyway. that it is of the same mind as her, and that she has no intention to change her own instincts. that's going beyond "venting" and into "marrow-flayingly personal" territory. ]

[unalign]

Amun certainly wasn't helpful when I managed to ask him questions. He never even answered one despite saying he would.

I think the Shadows each have their own way of mentally weakening us. But if you're certain you can endure it, then you should be fine. Just ... be careful always.

[appeale]

what did you ask him? if you don't mind saying.

don't worry. if there's one thing i'm good at it's being careful.

[unalign]

He said that he'll only answer one question, so I tried to ask questions without asking them. Like confirming how the Hierarchy came to power and what his abilities are since Assana said he's able to keep Spectres at bay, which might help in keeping our own Shadows at arm's length.

But no substantive answer, so.

[appeale]

nice try, at least. all i did was ask what they expect of the people here. like if there's any goal of this society or if we're all just playing house in hell while the hierarchy does ??? whatever???

no answer to that either. he basically said "you can waste your time doing whatever you want"

[unalign]

I don't understand the point of opening a line of communication with him if he won't offer any answers.

[ if she's the type who strangles people, she'd strangle him if she were to ever see him. alas, she'll leave that task to someone else. ]

[appeale]

it seemed like assana strongarmed him into it tbh. he probably already decided he wasn't going to actually be helpful

[unalign]

I know she means well, but Assana should've realized it wasn't going to work with that guy.

[appeale]

what if he's actually considered the nice friendly guy of the hierarchy lmao

[unalign]

And he's just in denial of his warm and friendly side so he acts tough and mean?

[appeale]

or the others are SO bad that by comparison he's the good one

[unalign]

How worse do you think the others would be if he's already this uncharitable?

[appeale]

well. they haven't said a single word to us i.e. the entire public and we don't even know their names

so......... by comparison he's already kind of a social butterfly?