[locked to sutoku alliance] video, un: levirage

[fibrillate]

Hello, everyone!

[on the screen is a polite-looking person with messy green hair and purple eyes. they give a wave and smile with their whole face from behind their white-rimmed glasses.]

My name is Leviathan Astrape—Levi, if you'd all like—and let me be the first to welcome you to the Sutoku Alliance! What we do here is a little more up in the air than other factions, but I think that just gives us the freedom to be who we are. If you're not sure what to do next, just keep your ear to the ground and get to know as many people as possible! It really can't hurt in the long term, and it's always better to know more than to know less.

[they don't sound stiff as they're saying it, like they have some practice with public presentations like this, but anyone watching the tracking of their eyes could probably tell that they're reading off cue cards.]

And on that note, we have a few names to know. They'll spend some time introducing themselves, I'm sure, but please keep an eye out for Artemy, Kim, Xingqiu, Yuri, Ydris, Marie, and Cloud. [a pleasant smile as they get to the end of the list.] Please also look out for Emily Dyer, especially if you need any kind of medical assistance or you're interested in helping out there. And our lieutenants within the alliance are Matoba Seiji and, of course, the death-defying Sakamoto Ryouma.

[they gesture in front of them with an open palm towards the person behind the camera.]

You're coming in during exciting times, everyone. We just had a bit of a shake-up at the Tanabata festival. The daughter of an important financial magnate has been kidnapped by an enemy of Toraguma, and though we haven't heard any orders from the Daitengu quite yet, I think we all know how things like this play out.

[and bringing both their hands in front of them, at waist level, they smile and give a polite little bow.]

So please, take this time to get to know your fellow alliance members. [they look towards the camera, then glance at their lapel, where they have a pin with the kanji for sutoku. they laugh like they knew they were forgetting something, and look back up towards everyone else.] And don't forget to pick up your official faction pin from most places within our area if you're interested.

[they wave goodbye, then stand there for a couple seconds. without the feed cutting, they walk forward towards the camera and start talking much more casually.]

Was that okay? Getting those names right was harder than I expected, and I even cut out a lot of the last names. I don't know how you did it the first time.

Hehe, y' know, I wondered about that "death defyin'" part on paper, but hearin' ya say it like that makes it sound pretty heroic! And honestly, I'm pretty sure ya did way better with those names, now that I'm thinkin' about it...

[ anyone who isn't new here will recognise the voice that responds to them from behind the camera, especially with that accent. ryouma is pretty sure he botched a couple names last time, mostly for that same reason. he might be able to fake it and cover it when he's speaking his own language, but when it comes to foreign-sounding words all bets are off. ]

So that was perfect! I think ya gotta real knack for this sorta thing!

[ which... hmmm, take that with a grain of salt because this man long predated show business, but still!! judging by his tone, ryouma is very pleased since all his coaching and cheerleading and cue card holding paid off, in his opinion! sure the rest of the faction will agree... right? ]

((this is a mingle post! feel free to threadjack and get to know everyone within the faction. and thank you again to min for contributing ryouma here!))

Comments

[fibrillate]

[haha, well. they hadn't expected to be called out on this, but, well, here they are. time to give it their best shot.]

Well, I don't think I could spell it in the proper script. I asked Ryouma to write names out phonetically for me just in case...

[they take a moment to look over the syllables and reverse-engineer what they'd learned from living in new gate city. names like those weren't very rare, but they were a little out of practice.]

It would be Xing, and then... qiu? Xingqiu?

[rainswords]

Maybe not? But let's see.

[ While it does take a moment, which is understandable, the answer he receives is a surprising one. They got it right, on the first attempt even. Not that he would have complained if the answer obtained was erroneous, that's often the case and something he has acquainted himself with. ]

That's pretty good. By that I mean you're correct. Okay, let's make this a little harder. How about it?

[fibrillate]

[oh! they are going to get a good grade in mandarin, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve. wait, no, that's not a meme this time.]

Haha, well, I won't turn down a challenge, but I warn you I'm a little more familiar with kana than hanzi. It's been some time since I've used the latter.
Please don't judge me too harshly.

[rainswords]

[ He isn't delving into that side of the internet — now perhaps if he was a therapist there may be something they could do here. Alas, he is not. Nor am I. Actually what the heck am I typing... ]

It seems you've already cast me into the role of a strict tutor. Therefore it may be unavoidable. Well, let us see the results.

[fibrillate]

All right, here goes nothing.

[there's a brief period as they realize oh, no, they don't know which reading xingqiu uses. so they just, uh, try to wing it, with as much help as they can get from what is definitely a real dictionary app and not just frantic hell googling. when they come back, they have an image of two shakily-written characters. the stroke order is halfway off and the calligraphy is, uh, lacking. but they gave it their best shot.]

星球

How's that?

text ➜ video

[rainswords]

[ It can only be expected that an answer would not be immediately provided, after all, there is no clue behind the meaning of his name from sound alone. The polite thing to do would be to wait patiently for them to find the correct characters through whatever means are available to them. That is not what Xingqiu does. There is a role for him to play, so while research is being done he keeps on prompting the person on the other end for their results.

Finally, he gets an answer. For two long minutes, there is no reply from Xingqiu until at last he texts back. ]

That's your handwriting?

It's almost illegible. I presume calligraphy isn't your forte? Not much practice?

[ Give a second to get back on topic. ]

Also, that's not right.

[ Give him another moment.

After ten minutes he will connect via video, and then he will hold up a sheet of paper with the correct characters that form his name. Only much like their writing, Xingqiu's own is also rather lackluster. In fact, it isn't even legible. ]

I was teasing before.

text ➜ video

[fibrillate]

Ah.

[they don't say much for the next few minutes, not until xingqiu returns on video. when they see that they have that request coming in, they accept, and at first they look halfway between angry and hurt. if this wasn't being harsh, then they shudder to think how ruthless he might actually be. it's good that he opens with something that undercuts everything he'd been saying before; it immediately compels all the emotions on leviathan's face to change to surprise, followed shortly by a laugh.]

You're very good at deadpan teasing. That was almost the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me. But to answer your question, no, calligraphy is far from my strongest suit. It's also been about ten years since I've been asked to remember how to write or pronounce any dialect of Chinese.

[even if they could decipher the characters that xingqiu uses, they still wouldn't be familiar enough with the hanzi to understand.]

Can I ask which reading your name takes?

[rainswords]

[ Briefly something close to an apologetic expression crosses his features, of course, nothing was meant by his comments especially not when his own calligraphy leaves much to be desired and that extends to his handwriting. Well, no one is perfect but even he can be embarrassed about some things but here he found a kindred spirit. ]

Almost but not quite.

Oh no. I don't intend to surpass anyone in that aspect, after all, there wasn't any true intention to appear unkind. To be honest...

[ A breath is taken and during that pause, it seems he is setting his phone down for a moment as he makes a second attempt to ink his name. But from his expression alone it's obvious that is going just as awry as the first time, if not worse. ]

calligraphy is not my strong point either, perhaps if I had taken better care during my classes, but alas there is no use in complaining now.

[ All he can do is try to improve but so far. Well, he is going to show them his second attempt and it's no better than the first. ]

As for the reading. From what I've heard the first part is something like travel or drifting. Even moving. The second part is much simpler. It's autumn.

[fibrillate]

[drifting autumn. it's a pleasant reading. they consider it, and they commit it to their memory for any future conversations with xingqiu. (if they plan to keep learning from their superior officers, they doubt this will be the only time they speak.) they smile once they've memorized it.]

Yes, I think we're all a little bit past wishing we'd paid better attention in school. [and if he wants to believe that they're talking about school, all the better.] The best lessons any of us can put into play now are the ones we learn here, within the Alliance and within Hell itself.

[the smile turns just a little conspiratorial.] And don't worry, I won't sit here and bear you any ill will for what was honestly a pretty good joke. But this does mean that I can now try to get you back.