I AM FINALLY SITTING DOWN TO PROPERLY REPLY TO THIS BEAUTY OF A POST ‼️‼️
Again, thank you SO, SO MUCH for your patience, it really took me a long time to squeeze writing this in the midst of my tight schedule!! Finals are brutal T-T
I swear -- when I said I was almost done with it a few weeks ago, it was nothing but the honest truth...however, I later decided to go a bit WILD in some aspects, and this happened 👉👈
BUT I AM HERE NOW!! LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!!!
This post has already brought me so much unexpected joy -- and each one of your additions only makes it EXPONENTIALLY better...HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???
YES!! It’s so fun that we are on the same wavelength regarding THIS MANY FANDOMS (even though we have already established that they are all connected by an invisible threat). I always love it when my dash gets flooded by yours (and sylve's!) reblogs^^
OMG!!! I have never published a paper before, so having you compare that experience to what we are cooking up here is genuinely so exciting!!!! AND YES I AM HAVING A BLAST, THAT’S WHY IT PAINED ME TO HAVE TO POSTPONE IT SO!!
HIHI, so happy to hear you enjoyed my silly doodle!! Fear not, my lord, for I will bring thee more in the foreseeable future! In this reply, however, I stuck mostly with written form, so I hope you are ready for WORDS!!
(While we are still on the topic, I pasted your post into Word to have it in front of me as I draft my reply to avoid omitting anything important -- AND THE COUNTER SHOWED ALMOST 3000 WORDS??? I feel so spoiled right now, genuinely THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to write all that, you don’t even realise how much I appreciate it!!!! By this point, I can recite some of your paragraphs by heart, haha, I suppose that's what writing a reply for a month straight does to a person :Ddd)
Without further ado, let's jump straight in!!!
Haha, how true! 2016-2018 musical animatic era sure was a hell of a thing to experience. I think those Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and Heathers animatics singlehandedly formed me into the person I am today! Hopefully, Hannibal won't disappoint you either!
Actually, I can easily imagine Soleum liking this side of the internet (and fandom culture) too!~
In Debut or Die, BDS-nim has already proven they are more than capable of gazing directly into the fans' hearts; hence, the possibility of their own character, KSE, interacting with fan media of his favourite hyperfixation seems quite high to me!
As the meta-est character in the verse, and as a ghost story affiliated with media, Braun is obviously aware of such things as well, but it's not until Soleum saunters into his life that he pays them any mind. (Kim Soleum and a Braun plushie watching DER animatics in Soleum's world in part three when???? I desperately need the fluff after all the angst we endured T-T)
On a different note, now's also the perfect time to stick together as a fandom and help a PHM fan musical come to life as well!!! I would give my LIFE to hear a betrayal song of the scene where Stratt sends Grace into space, or the song where Rocky and Grace meet for the first time. It wouldn't even have to be long or super professional...🥹
Regarding murder-pairings (murder husband & murdermedia)...
The more I think about these two pairs, the more delicious scenarios I am able to conjure up. Those Braunsol/Billford & Murder-pairings similarities are tickling my brain just right, hahaha!!
In my personal opinion, the true core of these ships gets revealed if we put them into each other's environment.
Imagine what would happen if Hannibal were to meet Will in hell in an environment where they wouldn't have to play by society's rules or be bound by its shackles. Putting a Lord of the Flies-inspired scenario aside (meaning: residing outside society would only lead to their destruction), I instead like to consider that living in a place where Hannibal can satisfy his killing urge without consequences might finally help them form a happy family...Maybe it's the nostalgia speaking, but I truly believe that they could detoxify and undivorce their own toxic divorced yaoi under better circumstances.
That being said, I DON'T actually think Hannibal would flourish in Vivzie's depiction of Hell. It's far too brutal, too animalistic for this guy who enjoys being seen as a spotless and elegant gentleman.
On the other hand, placing murdermedia into human society -- well, it's exactly as you have put it:
Two people having jobs that require a high level of decorum & formalities, undergoing a strict censoring in their words or conduct, and are constantly on watch or heard by many, are both serial killers, and their whole killing spree goes wild.
YES! That's why, as soon as these constraints are lifted, their real lives begin! These two were literally made for Hell! They are thriving!! Not even a change of environment could stop them from being at each other's throats 24/7!!!
Thus, I believe that while circumstances might play a big role in some cases, in the end, what it all comes down to is people themselves (& their motivation). Hannigram wished for a happy ending they could never get, while Voxal's entire dynamic is based on going toe to toe and hurting each other repeatedly. As they are now, there is no universe where their frequencies make them compatible in a completely detoxified way hahaha
The discrepancy between two facets of themselves just makes things more delicious. Also, the fact that those two, who are violent in nature, are attracted to & click with each other (necessarily need not be in a romantic way & I personally headcanon them in a queer platonic relationship! But this is my headcanon, so the characterizations/dynamics can differ & I am open to them!) Their fight resembles more of a territorial fight between two animals with a childish touch.
QPR FOR THE WIN, YES!!! HARD AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!! I especially love how you compared their fighting to territorial animals, that makes SO MUCH SENSE!!
In the same vein, I simply don't think Vox can ever accept Alastor as wholly as Will was able to accept Hannibal. You know what I mean? With Will, I am 100% certain that later in the show, he knew EXACTLY who Hannibal was, what he was capable of and what his personality was like. Vox, on the other hand, seems to be, to some degree, blinded by his obsession and is unable to judge Alastor's actions with a clear head...while for Al, Vox is an open book, as he has already proven on several occasions.
I really hope that Vox's self-reflection will bring him more agency so that they can finally stand side by side as equals, someday. Maybe in the last season, fighting against the biggest bad next to each other? That would be RAD.
Regarding connections among the different characters...
THAT'S! IT! I AM ORGANISING OUR FINDINGS! RIGHT! THIS! INSTANT! (Initially, I wanted to draw a web diagram from each character to the rest, but that got chaotic pretty quickly, so I'll stick to written form for this part!)
Embodiments of chaos. The oldest and most powerful beings in the room. They would enjoy chatting with each other to quite a high degree and purposely seek each other’s company. Once in a while, however, they would encounter a topic they would TERRIBLY disagree on and not speak to each other for several occasions...until one day, months later, when they'd sit right next to each other again and jovially converse like nothing ever happened.
Braun would take quite an interest in the fact that there are no "constraints" binding Bill down, no rules forcing such a terrifying entity to act a certain way (apart from, you know, not having a physical form and making a handful - ha! - of deals in his free time). Is the TV host planning to undo his own shackles in the future? Kim Soleum watches this with worry.
Bill, on the other hand, finds Braun's company refreshing. Neither of them human, they are free to ignore those boring things like morality and enjoy themselves to the fullest. He would also frequently appear as a guest on Braun's shows, and they would spend HOURS discussing the best designers of human-skinned furniture.
They are literally the closest thing to besties they can get! I can vividly see them sitting in a luxurious suite, a bottle of wine on the table, jazz playing in the background, downing one glass after another as they discuss (whine about) their relationship troubles. Sometimes they even seek each other’s advice, but they are rarely happy with the insight the other person has to offer.
Not as close as the Bill & Braun duo, these two nonetheless enjoy each other's aesthetic, sense of style and humour. I actually like to imagine they might share a similar kind of "friendship" to the one Alastor has with Zestial (and possibly other demonic overlords we have not properly met just yet). One of mutual respect, one where Alastor doesn't hesitate to praise Braun for his deeds and expects to hear a nice word or two in return. They contently coexist in each other’s presence, sometimes sharing tips on how to run their shows better. Braun’s show is one of the only Alastor swallows his pride to watch since he finds the Host’s ideas genuinely inspiring.
Honestly, Braun’s love for entertainment is his sole connection to this whole “couple’s therapy” deal. As long as his position isn’t compromised, as long as it is clearly understood that joining the therapy sessions (carried out by a mere human, no less!) is beneath him and that he is only participating out of a sense of benevolence to humour his colleagues, he doesn’t mind playing along. He might even enjoy it to some extent! And since he is one of the strongest entities around and can pretty much do as he pleases, he amusedly listens to Hannibal’s suggestions and even half-seriously contemplates some of those ideas.
Of course, his off-hand remarks are balancing at the brink of being rude and ignorant, and he sometimes belittles the ideas of that pathetic human. The second Hannibal realises that“he is just like that” and accepts that part of his personality, I think they might be able to share a regular professional relationship.
And who knows, maybe Braun also finds some aspects of this psychiatrist’s personality & story enjoyable.
A cordial relationship one shares with the spouse of a friend. They are keenly aware of the fact that the only thing connecting them is a one (1) guy and a handful of birthday celebrations that both of them had attended. Usually, they would simply nod each other’s way as a greeting and then not cross paths until after much later, the same night, when they'd grow so bored with the casual chitchat that they'd just sit together at the same table in silence, contemplating.
Of course, Ford would take much academic interest in Braun at first! He was literally made to fill the page of one of his journal entries! After a while, though, meeting the same entity, no matter how intriguing they are, one would grow accustomed. When the initial thrill fades, that person becomes yet another mundane part of one's life. “Oh, that? That’s Steve from next door. He says hi, by the way. Don’t mind the tentacles.”
For Stanford Pines, after several birthday parties, Braun is simply...Braun. Bill's friend. Kim Soleum's situationship. A ghost story he should be wary of, but not actively avoid.
Now we have the two TV heads talking.
(These are your two favourite guys, in the same room! At the same time!! Don't explode on me!!! :Ddd)
Vox would be SO jealous of Braun. The inferiority complex kicking in FULL FORCE. If there ever were any possibility of these two becoming friends, Vox’s envy would smother that spark right away. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Braun is charming, powerful, and always in control. Everything both Alastor and Vox strive to achieve!
Vox sees that Alastor is enchanted by the host. He respects him and trusts his capabilities to take care of the trouble when things go askew. He sees it & his blood boils, but there is nothing to be done but to sit there and curse through gritted teeth. And watch. Only watch.
After all, in his eyes, he deems himself inferior to Braun in every aspect he cares about. IT IS CONSUMING HIM.
Braun, on the other hand, is entertained by these theatrics. As a host of a famous programme, he spots the signs very early on, sorts out the nuances, and then just leans back in his chair and enjoys the show, right from the front row!! I can totally see him yapping into Soleum's ears about all the drama he had watched unfold during the day!
(Nonchalantly, of course! Expressing too much excitement about such a thing would be beneath him, after all)
[yesss, a trio this time!!]
I am sooo tempted to simply type out NOTHING and cut this post at least a paragraph shorter, but see, I don't think that to be the case. They wouldn’t be buddies; perhaps they wouldn’t even talk unless forced to sit next to each other during a dinner, but the moment they would click,,,
The thing about Will Graham is that, just like Kim Soleum, at first glance, he looks like your regular buddy you meet on the bus every day. If Bill Cipher has a single quality to his name, though, I think it would be his ability to assess people, find what they want and then squeeze his own plans through the gaps in the contract he purposely left there before. Sure, at the end of the day, there are some concepts, like love & friendship, that might never get through his non-existent skull, but in the short term, that doesn't seem to really interfere with his predictions.
Thus, I think, between the two of them, it would be Bill who would notice him. He would make a mental note to "probe him later & see what he is really made of". He would mention him to his boyfriend to taunt him, only for Ford to sigh in exasperation and ask him not to come close to any of his friends.
And when Braun off-handedly asks, [Did anyone pique your interest?], Bill slurps on his wine, laughs and tells him about this one human, this black sheep hidden among the herd, that caught his eye this afternoon.
Braun and Ford's dynamic is SOOO interesting to think about!! The Billford & Braunsol parallels are genuinely eating off of my brain in real time, I can FEEL IT.
Was I glazing Braun too much?? No way, right? It's not my fault, he is superior to almost everyone here in every aspect!! I guess that is what being the manifestation of the perfect TV host does to a person/ghost story!
As I see it, Bill's dynamic with Alastor doesn't necessarily need to be all that distinct from Braun's -- Bill is just more easily approachable.
(No wonder! He has been the odd one out in every society ever since the literal DAWN OF TIME, of courseee he is overcompensating now! In many situations where Braun simply would not engage at all, Bill's honed social skills kick in unwittingly -- an outdated survival instinct he adapted to not seem like a pathetic loser in the past.)
So, he and Al meet. They chat. Bill is always the first one in the group to point it out when Alastor does something chaotic to his liking, and Alastor gladly accepts the compliment.
The similarities between their powers would annoy them more than connect them. Their egos physically cannot handle the concept of not being UNIQUE.
Hey, the more I think about it, the more they seem like that one duo in a popular girls' friends group that actually (not so) secretly hates each other's guts, haha! At first glance, they would appear to get along splendidly, but the SECOND either of them is alone with his friends, he doesn't hesitate to drag the other one's name through the DIRT.
Bill's mindset towards therapy as a whole would inherently depend on his experiences in Theraprism. So far, those experiences aren't looking all that sweet. Maybe he would adopt the attitude of 'pitiful mortal, I have survived the most effective therapy this universe has to offer - did you think your emotion charts would be effective against someone like ME?'
The difference between Braunsol & Billford plays a role, too. Unlike Braun, who might, at least partially, willingly come to these lessons because of Soleum's request, Bill definitely would not listen to Ford, had he made such a suggestion. More likely, he just saw all his cool friends joining in & didn't want to be the one left out again.
Not bonding. Not friends. A secret third thing.
They have loads in common, these two. Could Vox's attempt to seize control of both Heaven and Hell compare to Bill's Weirdmaggedon? Maybe. However, two people bringing forth the apocalypse a world ruled by their regime does not guarantee they would also get all friendly during joint therapy sessions.
I think their character arcs & motivations clash way too much. Bill's actions are driven by his desire to get rid of his 2d constraints (and eternally distract himself from the horrors of his past while role-playing as the most popular & powerful kid around), while Vox just wants to spite his rival & show everyone what he is truly capable of.
Somewhere deep inside, they are both so, so afraid of never being enough.
There is also the matter of running cults. At a similar time in history, too.
Still, none of this is sufficient for me to imagine how their interactions might go. I would loooove to hear your thoughts on these two, though!!
Soleum x literally anyone is already enough to guarantee a spark. He is simply too much of a weirdo (affectionate).
A human, but a bit to the left.
One doesn't notice his uniqueness at first, but the second one realises his thoughts are on an entirely different frequency than everyone else's...a king of chaos of Bill's calibre would find him SO amusing!
I suppose he would find him interesting in a similar way to Will Graham, but multiplied by SIX, since he also just so happens to be his best friend's situationship. Bill lacks Braun's tact, so his first instinct (as a being who has been all his life fighting to present as the most powerful person in the room) would definitely be to try and estimate his strengths, weaknesses and especially his usefulness.
Is there any way I could use him against Braun if needed? fleshed through his head as he approached him for the first time.
KSE is no easy target, though, and Bill would soon come to realise that. Despite being a coward, which I don't think Bill would be able to realise on his own, this guy would not get intimidated by Bill's powers, nor would he readily accept any of his deals.
(After all, Ford would have already taken the initiative to give him a quick briefing on how to deal with his demonic boyfriend.)
Thus, after a few such attempts, Bill would inadvertently get sour and return to watching Soleum from a distance, patiently waiting for the next opportunity to present itself.
I really, really like Bill.
He is so fun to write and to poke with a stick. This is a different form of affection than I feel towards Soleum, whom I'd put into Petri's dish and observe all day long.
Bill simply deserves to be bullied by me. He is vain, jealous, egotistical, but also really good at gaining people's trust and climbing the social ladder... at least until his target glimpses his true self underneath the glam and realises the sheerness of his patheticness!!
Well, in all shamelessness, I am going to borrow your words for this one:
If there were to be some process to be made from Alastor's therapy session, it would start in some sort of reciprocal, deal-like manner in the beginning. As a headstrong person from the 1930s, who still has a strong aversion to modern technology (but like more than half of this aversion is from a badly-terminated relationship with Vox, honestly), I don't think he's gonna be easily open to the idea that "therapy can improve a person's life".
Exactly! I am glad we agree, hehehe!
These two have many things in common, and their individual situations mirror each other to such a high degree that they would undoubtedly feel suspicious and distrustful.
That is how all the rivalry-ridden stories start.
As time progressed, neither of them would ever dare to miss a single therapy session - it is their pride what's at stake, after all! They just found someone similar to them - naturally, their first instinct would be to show their significant other (and everyone else, too) that they are the better one of the two!
So, as I said, rivals, kind of. But also buddies, eventually. They would never reach Bill's and Braun's level of bonding, but their friendship would rank quite high up anyway!
I think seeing these two interact would actually be fun.
Just imagine: Braun, entering the room, Alastor standing up to go and greet him. They exchange a pleasantry or two, and then, suddenly, this guy in a suit pokes his head out from behind the great Host, and Alastor sees his idol's boyfriend for the first time.
They quietly stare at each other.
From Al's point of view, the kid would appear timid but also strangely calm - as if being in such an oppressive environment wasn't his first rodeo. Braun would place his hand on his shoulder casually and continue jovially chatting, and Soleum would indulge him for a while before excusing himself to go chat with someone more normal.
Braun's gaze would linger on the departing figure. Alastor would notice. He wouldn't understand.
But MY GOD, would he absolutely ADORE Soleum's TV host contamination. In fact, everyone from the demonic table would,,,
Had Alastor been a bit more introspective, he would have envied Hannibal, for his boyfriend's personality is so much smoother and more straightforward than Vox's.
Unfortunately, he isn't. Or maybe fortunately, since like this he also doesn't realise that he even HAS a boyfriend, lmaoo. In truth, he enjoys the constant fights and clashes with Vox (and Lucifer) wayyy too much -- definitely a lot more than he'd ever care for building proper, healthy relationships with the people around. To sum it up, Will doesn't pique his interest extensively.
However, I do get the feeling that if Hannibal ever showed him Will's killing technique, his design, he would like it a lot.
This was a bit difficult because Alastor only cares about:
those who are stronger than him
Even in his own show, it's pretty hard to determine what sort of relationship he has with Angel, Vaggi, Cherry Bomb...despite them living in the same building, these characters simply don't get picked up by his very specific antenna settings T-T When he looks around a room, he sees right through them.
Hannibal & boyfriend table (as a whole)
I think Hannibal's interactions with the humans would go far smoother than with demonic entities.
In his prime environment, surrounded mostly by people weaker than him, as far as he knows, he would finally be able to prosper. These are also people who come to his sessions willingly - or at least with much more enthusiasm than the members of the second table, anyway - so each sitting isn't wasted with pointless arguments.
(It's not so hard to imagine Soleum or Ford requesting these sessions directly and dragging their boyfriends with them against their will, hehe!)
Overall, he would clash the most with Vox, since he is the only other entity that would feel superior at this table, too. With his pride hurt from the fact that it was Alastor who was judged as the more menacing of the pair, he would childishly try to make Hannibal's life as difficult as possible.
Ford would be the mediator, trying to calm everyone down, while also sometimes nitpicking Hannibal's methods, and Soleum would mostly observe &, from time to time, share an experience that would, despite his carefully-picked words, still make the entire table freeze.
Hannibal would like being Soleum's psychiatrist the most since the guy would never stop surprising him.
Their relationship would 100% depend on Vox's current mood - if content, he would taunt the scientist and enjoy seeing him struggle not to snap back, and in a bad mood, he would simply ignore him completely and pay his reprimands no mind.
Um. You will find out what I think about these two in the last passage...
No matter their views of each other, these two have to interact -- after all, they would be seeing each other at every. single. gathering.
Previously, we have established that the main bonding happens between Soleum & Ford + Braun & Bill (I can already see them booking a table in a restaurant for a double date, they are soooo compatible!!), so that consequently leaves us with Alastor & Hannibal + ...?
#forced-into-friendship-by-outside-forces
We have already talked about these two a lot - they have so much to learn from one another! If Soleum wasn't Soleum, I would directly call them friends. Alas, I can only say that Ford thinks of him as a dear friend, while Soleum enjoys his company and does seek him out during these occasions. (It's just that his definition of friendship is skewed T-T)
In fact! Their friendship might be a better therapy deal for Sol than his sessions with Hannibal ever could.
This guy literally NEEDS to meet good-natured and kind-hearted scientists. After all the trauma he carries from the Cheerful Research Institute and from Kwak Jekang's practices, it is a must. Ford has to show him the whimsy of research again!! Which is no easy task to do, since Sol is the prime TEST SUBJECT. But. Imagine. A fic. Where they just fool around. in a laboratory.
My choice of leaving Soleum for last is very questionable, since it means all of his interactions are scattered throughout this entire section. Considering I love analysing him A LOT, looking back, after, like, three weeks of constantly updating this post by small chunks, this decision of mine really baffles me!
Anyway, Soleum would love Will's company! He is literally so normal. Just a regular guy. They would discuss the weather, sports, and some random news trivia they'd come across that day. There would be no consequences of running out of topics to talk about and no wrong choices either.
What could Will (or Hannibal) ever possibly do to Soleum, with Braun backing him? He is THE safest person to chat with, to anger, and again to reconcile with.
Final commentary on this part:
I feel like this section drained at least twenty years of creative thinking from my life! So much brainpower!! T-T
I didn't even know I had it in me, but once I took on the challenge of dissecting EVERYONE, I could not back down easily! Kinda proud of myself, too, for putting this whole thing together! :Dd
It's also clear that with such a high amount of information, our opinions on several subjects might diverge, so PLEASE, I would love to hear EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR THOUGHTS!!!! (But no pressure, ofc!! Obviously, you don't need to expand on every single one!! I know that not all of these relationships are all that interesting, but I suppose that is just how human, ha, interactions are! Basically, all and every single one of your opinions will be deeply cherished <3)
Regarding your chaos ranking...
You cannot even begin to fathom how much I LOVE your analysis! (and bow-ties are definitely cool!! The way I was thinking about that quote while drawing them T-T Doctor Who truly does stick with a person forever!)
Firstly, the level of chaos is DEFINITELY a great choice of quantity to measure and label them by! All of these guys are just INSANE!!
I also really enjoyed the way you separated them in your latter commentary, and it even gave me an idea for another sort of chart, haha!
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said - which is also why I positioned Braun so low in the "mentally human" section -- he acts like a human, but there is a clear discrepancy between his actions and his thoughts in this regard.
Bill is definitely pure CHAOS - stuffed into a 2d triangle body and made to interact with humans. THAT IS WHAT MAKES HIM SO GREAT.
Just like you suggested, I put Caine into the non-human corner - and as far as possible at that! In my opinion, even though he comes from humans, was made by them, born from their ideas and created to interact with humans daily, he is so fundamentally different from them that it ultimately led to his own end.
Where to position him on your chaos chart, though...
You are right, that is quite a difficult question to ponder!
It feels wrong to suggest he could be more chaotic than the king of chaos himself, but at the end of the day, Bill is still a living, breathing (?) creature. Capable of being moved by emotions, of changing, and reigning in the chaos within. Caine's existence had one purpose, and he abided by that purpose - that, on its own, speaks against a chaotic nature. Inside these boundaries set by the nature of his existence, though, nothing was holding him back.
Regarding Braun = Nyarlahthotep ...THANK YOU SM FOR FINDING THE POSTS FOR ME! Gonna go through them once I am completely finished here! Expect my thoughts on that subject soon!! :Dd
Regarding Hazbin Hotel predictions... I love how we share the same wavelength!! I will separate this section from this post and reply to all your thoughts in a new one later, if you don't mind! There is MUCH we can examine on that topic, after all, and this post is already...so...long...
Vox and Soleum argument????About CULTS??? OH MY GOSH, gotta write that scenario down NOW!! (it will be a very crude version but,, I have to,,, the voices,,, )
AND WE ALL KNOW THERE IS ONLY ONE LINE KIM SOLEUM WOULD NEVER CROSS!!!!
(...)
“Repeat to me what you just said.” The calm voice echoed through the dimly lit room.
In a place such as this, illuminated solely by the flames joyfully crackling in the fireplace, a person cannot put their trust solely in sight to discern other people's expressions. You have to listen to their heavy breathing, to the creaking of wood and rustling of fabric as they shift their bodies on the chairs. Feel the temperature as it slowly drops.
The heat of the fireplace had never felt this distant before. Not unlike someone hitting the off-switch, the air around grew cold in an instant.
During these tense moments, Kim Soleum’s lips formed a straight line. Under better lighting, perhaps, one could see his pale cheeks flushing slightly red. Blaming it on the sudden chill would be pointless, though, since the coolness itself emanated from his gloomy expression.
Ford, who promptly noticed the unexpected change in atmosphere, cleared his throat, turning towards Kim Soleum on his right, who was still staring at Vox in disbelief. “I cannot say I entirely follow, but-“ he habitually paused to confirm that both of them were paying attention to his words- “let’s refrain from fighting for now. There is nothing to be gained from causing a stir in a place like this.” His tone was uncharacteristically mild, as if he were soothing a misbehaving child.
Try as he might, it seemed to be to no avail.
“Didn’t you catch the meaning behind his words?” Despite the fact that his question was aimed at Ford, Kim Soleum didn’t move. His dark red eyes were pinning Vox to his chair like a mosquito.
Vox’s smile widened into a sneer, as though encouraging him to continue.
At last, this sort of provocation was enough to revert Kim Soleum back to his usual self. His gaze shifted to Ford instead, silently requesting support. “He implied that...that the lives of the people following him held no value in his eyes.” The young man didn’t even try to hide the disgust in his voice.
Vox finally couldn't take it anymore. “HAHAHAHAHA! Is that what ticked you off? Pathetic!”
The other man did not budge. “Human beings aren’t expendable.”
“Oh, aren’t they?” Vox chuckled again, leaning slightly forward in his chair. “Why are there so many of them, then? All but waiting for a leader to show them the way. I didn't make them that way, it's just how the world is!” He smirked. “Isn’t it a sacred duty of the shepherds to step up and look after their herd? You do agree, don’t you? Oh, you do. HAHAHAHA! I have met enough cult leaders in Hell to know we all think alike.”
That sentence jolted Ford from his reverie, and he stole another glance at Kim Soleum’s way. “You are in on this, too?”
Seeing his disbelief, Vox laughed so much that tears burst out and wetted the rims of his screen. “How amusing! Truly the pot calling the kettle black!”
Kim Soleum’s lack of response soon made Vox provocative smile drop. Only after a few moments of silence did he finally speak up: “The duty of a shepherd?” Kim Soleum shook his head, lowering his gaze towards his empty hands. “Cult leaders are no shepherds.”
“Oh?” Vox crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly appearing to have lost all interest in the topic. His next words reeked of sarcasm. “Please, enlighten me, O Great One. What are we then?"
Kim Soleum paused for a moment before turning towards Ford instead. His stiff expression eased a bit and looked almost a bit sorrowful. “They are either wolves, leading the herd towards its doom, or sacrificial lambs, choosing to suffer in the herd’s stead.”
Vox appeared slightly pensive as he mulled Kim Soleum’s words over. Before he could muster up a smart reply, though, a sultry voice filled the room with its laughter. Kim Soleum relaxed as he recognised it, which - contrarily - made Ford slightly furrow his brows.
Two big hands patted Kim Soleum's shoulders.
[Very well said, my dear Friend.]
HEHE, and that is ALL from me for now! I feel like I am sending a dear pigeon to fly across the ocean. This post has grown on me so much T-T I will leave it in your wonderful care now!
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