Juneau Where She's Going?

[doitrockapella]

Who: Carmen Sandiego (doitrockapella) and a bunch of other people!
Where: Various locations in Johto, over the course of the week!
When: The week of January 26th
Summary: This week, her itinerary's loaded with more than just moving violations.
Rating: PG as a default; deviations from that will be marked!
Log:

⛵ WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? ⛽
MONDAY January 27th	Goldenrod City — ALL DAY
TUESDAY January 28th	Goldenrod City — ALL DAY
WEDNESDAY January 29th	Goldenrod City — MORNING through 5:00 PM En Route to Ecruteak City — 5:00 PM ONWARD
THURSDAY January 30th	En Route to Ecruteak City — PRIOR to 11:00 AM Ecruteak City — 11:00 AM ONWARD
FRIDAY January 31st	Ecruteak City — ALL DAY
SATURDAY February 1st	Ecruteak City — ALL DAY

People interested in interacting with Carmen or having her pay your character a visit at some point during this week, feel free to throw in a starter with a date and location for the thread! You can either write the starter yourself and I'll have her tag into it, or you can drop a top-level just with date and time and I'll come up with a reason for their paths to cross, either way. o/

Comments

[ardent]

...Thank you.

[He tips his head a bit once that's out there, however, finding some of the chalk stationed around the table and setting to rubbing some on the edge of his stick.]

...That's the same day as my birthday, actually. August 31st.

[doitrockapella]

It's also the day before Dr. Robert Ballard and his team found the Titanic. You have good taste in birthdays.

[She eyes the table.]

I see a shot on the one and the three. Is that how it looks to you?

[ardent]

I think so...four is possible, but the force you'd need to carry it off would just cause you to scratch, I think.

[He gestures vaguely with the stick.]

There. Isn't it?

[doitrockapella]

It looks that way. That's the shot you'd take if you were hoping to impress someone, not trying to win the game.

[ardent]

Right.

[He pauses for a moment before seeming to decide that he's not out to impress anyone in particular today; the three is an easier shot, but at least it's one he knows he can make.]

Do you still have people that you consider your rivals...?

[doitrockapella]

I do. I suppose it's a little strange to say that I've always had them, but it's fairly apt.

[She sort of dwells on that thought for a minute, contemplating, as something occurs to her.]

It's an arrangement I understand, when it comes to relating to another person. Like teacher and student. "Rivals" is...predictable.

[ardent]

I see.

[Judging by his tone, he doesn't.]

It must be...nice, I guess. Even if the relationship isn't. To have something familiar like that.

[He shrugs after a moment.]

I've never had any rivals. I didn't have any friends, either, until Hope's Peak. I had one for a little while. And then I didn't have any again before I was taken out of the game.

[He seems oddly unbothered by it, though; almost as though he's just reciting facts, really. The only thing that's off is how still he's gotten.]

...It's different here, though.

[doitrockapella]

I usually treated rivals as a substitute for friends.

[Now it's her turn to commandeer the chalk.]

Someone to talk to, someone to play with. A source of attention. You can get that from a rival, even if it isn't always positive. For awhile I did all right with that.

[Scratch scratch scratch.]

You're right, though. It's different here.

[ardent]

I always thought I never really needed friends.

[His words are oddly subdued; he doesn't seem upset, but he's clearly thinking about something that's striking him strangely.]

I...did that a lot. I'd think I didn't need things because it made it easier to not have them. Friends were sort of like that.

[doitrockapella]

That's a bit like sour grapes, isn't it? Just without the spite. And maybe with a little sadness, instead.

[She's looking at him now, half curious and half concerned; the game seems to have gone by the wayside for the time being, and she's watching to see if she needs to draw his attention to it again.]

When you don't need friends in the first place, you don't have to concern yourself with worrying and fretting over why no one seems to like you. Or why you don't have anyone in your life, the way the other people around you do. I know how that goes.

[ardent]

...I always knew why no one liked me - it was always either my personality, or just not having time for anyone else. I just told myself that it didn't matter; that everything would be worth it in the end.

It was lonely, a bit, but that was only going to be for a little while.

[doitrockapella]

Are you still lonely now?

That's...actually an honest question; I know it's entirely possible to be all alone in a crowd. Or in a building full of people who want what's best for you.

[ardent]

No.

[And for once the answer is firm, immediate, the hesitation that's been gripping him for the last while now letting him be for a brief moment; it isn't going to last long, judging by how he seems to flinch back afterwards, but hell, he tried.]

I know what you mean, but...no, it's...not like that anymore.

[doitrockapella]

[Honestly, even if it does only last for a moment, it's enough to abruptly set Carmen at ease, after the initial surprise at his sudden change of demeanor. Once, she would've spotted that spark of fight left in him and immediately fixated on trying to catch hold of it, to press in harder and keep dragging more and more of it out of him until he had the momentum to keep after it on his own. She would've done that once, because that would've been the way to fix him.

And that's why it's a little surprising in itself that she doesn't feel the urge to jump to it now, because it's somehow sort of enough to just...be relieved that it really is still there, and to have faith enough in Ishimaru to trust that yes, he's still got it in him to find his own way out of this.

It's funny how, in its way, trusting a wounded bird to find his wings almost takes more courage than taking the leap yourself.]

I'm glad you feel that way. That's how it should be, I think.

[ardent]

[He just kind of stares at that, as though unsure of what to do with it; he's thinking, though, as opposed to freezing up.]

...I still spend a lot of time by myself, but there's a difference between being alone for a while and feeling it.

I...like the friends I have here. They're good people.

[doitrockapella]

I've noticed. The ones I've met have been a pleasure to talk to.

[We're going to conveniently sweep Celes under the rug here, um.]

It can be difficult to let someone be by themselves when you care deeply about them. It's hard to feel like you're doing enough just by being there, even when sometimes that's really the best thing you can do. I imagine that's why some of your friends left the house — for the sake of giving you the space to sort things out, without taking the risk of being overbearing with trying to help.

[She ducks her head, laughing a little under her breath.]

Speaking as someone who's often overbearing, when trying to help.

[ardent]

...My brother is like that, I think. He...tries to help but he usually ends up...

[...]

...not...doing that very well.

[Well, it's more tactful than it could have been, anyway.]

I think that's what Kuwata-kun was trying to do, too. It was...weird.

[doitrockapella]

And Naegi-kun is quite good at it, isn't he. He strikes me as that type of person.

[Protagonists. c: ]

As for Leon, I'm fairly sure that's what he originally wanted from me, when he called. His attempts at help weren't working, so he was hoping I'd tell him what the "right" ones were.

[ardent]

Naegi-kun is very good with people...I've learned a lot from him since we've been here, actually.

[Protagonists.]

Kuwata-kun...he's helped me with things in the past - always things I understood right away. I think he's...used to things being easy? He thinks like geniuses do. A lot of the people from Hope's Peak are like that.

[doitrockapella]

[She tips her head a little, regarding him.]

And how do geniuses think?

[ardent]

...They're not used to working hard for anything. They have to do things they don't like, but that's...not the same - the work is still easy for them, it's just...unpleasant or tedious. They're used to things being handed to them, because things are naturally easy for them...and they don't understand that it's not like that for everyone.

It's...difficult for them to understand what things are like for most people. They're insensitive a lot as a result, even if they don't mean to be. Genius is a blessing, of course...but it also means that people who rely only on their own genius to get by often lack a lot of fundamental skills and understanding. They don't really know what effort and hard work are like, and why they're important...and so when they come across something that they don't understand and don't know how to obtain through their genius alone, they're usually at a loss.

Kuwata-kun often has trouble when he finds things he's not good at, because he doesn't know how to become good at it - the idea of working for it doesn't really seem to...occur to him, I guess. Or maybe he doesn't know how. It's like that.

[doitrockapella]

Geniuses are also often natural problem-solvers. Because things come easily to them, they're not used to coming up against problems that they can't solve. When you have practice at struggling with problems, you learn to appreciate the value of patience — and sometimes, of leaving a problem alone awhile to see if it'll settle itself on its own. But if you're the sort of person for whom there's never been a problem without a solution...then naturally, you start to think that every problem must have a solution, if you only attack it hard enough.

Geniuses struggle at working for things, but I think they also have a hard time accepting that there are some things just inherently outside of their ability to accomplish, as well.

[ardent]

...I know. I've never been one myself...I've always been average when it comes to my abilities, if not below that in some areas. But my grandfather was.

It didn't end very well.

[doitrockapella]

[ :|a ]

...Does it bother you? Not being a genius?

I'm curious because of what we were talking about earlier — not needing things because it was easier to be without them if you didn't need them in the first place.

[ardent]

No, not at all...it would be easier for me if I was, but...

[Hm.]

...Hard work is important; knowing how to handle things for yourself is important. And I've always believed that perfectly ordinary people are able to accomplish just as much. That the world won't be changed by genius alone - the world can be changed by ordinary people, and extraordinary effort.