* CURSES / BLACK HOLES !

“I never cared who you were…”

“Come with me. Save yourself, you don’t owe these people any more. You’ve given them everything.”

“You don’t fear death, you welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.”

“No, you stay here, I’m in charge.”

“Do you feel in charge?”

“Was getting caught part of your plan?”

“This conversation used to end with an unusual request.”

“Our plan is proceeding as expected.”

“Sorry I keep letting you down.”

“I’m retired.”

“The shadows betray you, because they belong to me.”

“I’m ____’s reckoning, here to end the borrowed time you’ve all been living on.”

“You’re pure evil.”

“I’m necessary evil.”

“You do not fear death.”

“I was wondering what would break first: your spirit, or your body?”

“Shouldn’t the people know the hero who saved them?”

“There’s more to you than that.”

“You do not fear death, you think this makes you strong. It makes you weak.”

“What the hell is going on?”

“You should be as afraid of him as I am.”

“And you were right.”

“Calm down, ____, now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.”

“And this give you power over me?”

“You betrayed everything you stood for.”

“There’s a storm coming, ____.”

“Congratulations, you got yourself caught. Now what’s the next step in your master plan?”

“There’s a point, far out there when the structures fail you, and the rules aren’t weapons anymore, they’re shackles letting the bad guy get ahead. One day you may face such a moment of crisis.”

“I had no choice, I needed a way to keep them from killing me.”

“My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men.”

“You think darkness is your ally, but you merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, moulded by it.”

“You panicked, and your weakness has cost the lives of three others.”

“You think I care what anyone in this room thinks of me?”

“I doubt you care what anyone in any room thinks of you.”

“I like your new girlfriend.”

“You think you’re the only one who can find the strength to escape?”

“You boys know you can’t come into my neighborhood without asking politely.”

“I doubt many people get the better of you.”

“I thought they killed you.”

“You just made a serious mistake.”

“I just can’t take it. I mean, nobody will ever know who it was who saved an entire city.”

“No lawyer, no witnesses? What sort of due process is this?”

“In that moment, I hope you have a friend like I did, to plunge their hands into the filth so that you can keep yours clean.”

“You could have gone anywhere, but you came back.”

“We both know that now I have to kill you.”

“I started out doing what I had to. Once you’ve done what you had to, they’ll never let you do what you want to.”

“Careful what you wish for.”

“I’ll die before I talk.”

“Your guilt has been determined, this is merely a sentencing hearing. Now, what will it be: death or exile?”

“I need you to get me back in the game.”

“Hey, when a girl’s desperate.”

“Your hands look plenty filthy to me, ____.”

“There’s no fresh start in today’s world. Any twelve-year-old with a cell phone could find out what you did.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m angry.”

“I think I do more to help someone than most of the people in this room.”

“Suffering builds character.”

“When I spotted you, I was looking for a friend of mine, ____.”

“You dumb bitch.”

“You were right, about the structures becoming shackles.”

“Oh boy, you are in for a show tonight.”

“Maybe your knife was too slow.”

“Is it really painful?”

“I knew ____. I was his friend. And it will be a very long time before someone inspires us the way he did.”

“What are you doing here? What are you working on?”

“No more. I’ve sewn you up, I’ve set your bones, but I won’t bury you.”

“And yet, here you are, like we’re still at war.”

“If you want to save the world, you have to start trusting it.”

“You see only one end to your journey. Leaving is all I have to make you understand.”

“I’m choosing to trust you. Please.”

“You’re welcome to try it, ____.”

“Look, you wouldn’t beat up a woman any more than I would beat up a cripple… Of course, sometimes exceptions have to be made.”

“I always knew there was nothing here for you except pain and tragedy.”

“Happy watching, thank you.”

“How dare you use _____ to try to stop me?”

“Maybe it’s time we all stop trying to outsmart the truth and let it have its day.”

“That is a man who fights with the power of belief.”

“I’m gonna do what _____ never could.”

“I’m so sorry. I failed you. You trusted me, and I failed you.”

“You two should exchange notes over coffee.”

“Nobody ever accused me of being dumb.”

“Not a lot of people know what it feels like to be angry in your bones.”

“We could use some hotter heads around here.”

“You’re sorry? You expect to destroy my world and then think we’re going to shake hands?”

“I wanted something more for you than that. I still do.”

“I’m adaptable.”

“Right when I saw you, I knew who you really were.”

“Shoot them. Shoot them all.”

“He was trying to kill millions of innocent people.”

“They ‘understand,’ foster parents. Everybody ‘understands’ for a while. Then they want the angry little kid to do something he knows he can’t do: move on. So after a while they stop understanding.”

“You’re not living. You’re just waiting, hoping for things to go bad again.”

“You’ll leave me?”

“You don’t know a thing about me.”

“It takes a better mind than mine to fix it.”

“You see, it’s the slow knife, the knife that takes its time, the knife that waits years without forgetting, then slips quietly between the bones… that’s the knife that cuts deepest.”

“Is ____ really that paranoid?”

“You’re afraid that if I go back out there I’ll fail.”

“Don’t worry, _____, it takes a little time to get back into the swing of things.”

“There are always people you care about. You just don’t realize how much until they’re gone.”

“One man’s tool is another man’s weapon.”

“Do what’s necessary.”

“Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“I figured it out too late, you gotta learn to hide the anger. Practice smiling in the mirror. It’s like putting on a mask.”

“We were in this together, and then you were gone.”

“Well, I was trying to be modest.”

“Never steal anything from someone you can’t outrun, kid.”

“About the whole no guns thing… I’m not sure I feel as strongly about that as you do.”

“I want what you owe me.”

“No…I’m afraid that you want to fail.”

“This means your hatred…but it also might mean saving your life. And that is more important.”

“Keep her close, he’ll come for her.”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave with those.”

“Torture. But not of your body…of your soul.”

“Survival is in the spirit. The soul.”

“Fear not death, let death fear you.”

“Well then, I guess we’re both suckers.”

“Maybe you’re being unrealistic about what’s really in your pants other than your wallet.”

“I watched you die.”

“Why are you here?”

“A hero can be anyone.”

“How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible, without the most powerful impulse of the spirit: the fear of death?”

“I had it under control.”

“Those weren’t street thugs, they were trained killers. I saved your life.”

“Fear will find you again.”

“You don’t fear death, you welcome it.”

“A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know the world hadn’t ended.”

i always see mutuals stating they need to ‘tackle’ their drafts, or say they need to work extra hard during their free time to just push out due replies.  i, myself, say & do the same thing —— & while roleplaying, yes, is between at least two people with keeping a thread going… i can’t help but wonder—

have we, at least myself, lost sight of what’s important by roleplaying?

most of us spend all of our time on here TRYING TO CATCH UP.  in a way, forcing ourselves to write out replies, that we at times might not be happy with.  i know i’m guilty of that, anyway.  at the end of the day… if we’re stressed over catching up, posting stuff we’re not proud of  ( at times ), constantly trying to balance between real life & piling up drafts, allowing ourselves to work on writing to threads we might not be inspired for… WHY DO WE DO IT?

i feel like the rpc, & the mindset of us as a whole, needs a change.  if any of you is like me, you might get what i’m trying to say!  don’t force yourself to feel like you need to catch up all the time.  post stuff you are proud of!  do what you’re inspired & motivated for.  don’t push yourself to respond to things here every chance you can get— take some time for yourself, as well!  this way of structure is… kind of unhealthy tbh.