OOC: This post is an in-character inbox for anyone wishing to contact the character, Araidne, for faderift. To contact the mun, please PM this journal or send a private plurk to wizera.
"That's one way of putting it," Ariadne said, smiling grimly. "But it's also taken on a connotation of something...evil. Like the mountain trolls that sack villages. Or the mermaids who drag sailors to the depths. All of what they do gets rolled into the word demon and...those of us who aren't murderers tend to get...blamed."
It was complicated. And there was a history stretching back thousands of years, long before Ariadne was a part of it.
It was strange, how similar and different two meanings of the same word could be. Plenty of things in Thedas got blamed for being demons when they weren't — even the things that were demons didn't always know what they were doing. And that made Cole wonder whether the demons in Airy's world knew, or if they were just confused.
"I don't know," Ariadne admitted, frowning. "It's a good question. I like to believe that, at least, it has something to do with what they need to survive. That they're not just doing it for fun or something."
People were innately good. And she wanted to think of mermaids--fellow demons--as being good too.
"Demons here — the things that are demons," as opposed to the things that were just accused of it, "sometimes want to hurt people. They've looked too long at the parts of people that cause pain, and they turn into that. But sometimes they just don't know what they're doing."
Ariadne watched him carefully for a moment. She didn't want her thoughts to come out as an accusation. She wanted to choose her words carefully. "You see the parts of me that are in pain," she pointed out slowly. "But you aren't a demon."
"The difference between feeding the hurt, and healing it. Some spirits don't know where it is." Without any hesitation whatsoever, he added: "I didn't always."
She caught the implication. But didn't want to probe it. Not right now, anyway. Even if people were good deep down inside, they weren't always perfect. They made mistakes.
Ariadne had made more than a few herself.
So instead, she tilted her head slightly and asked, "How did you learn?"
That made her smile. A brilliant, beautiful smile that flashed through her eyes. It was everything Ariadne believed in, really. And everything that she'd been mocked for, called far-too-optimistic for.
But it was true.
"That's wonderful," she said, meaning it completely.
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It was complicated. And there was a history stretching back thousands of years, long before Ariadne was a part of it.
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"Why do the mermaids do that?"
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People were innately good. And she wanted to think of mermaids--fellow demons--as being good too.
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"Demons here — the things that are demons," as opposed to the things that were just accused of it, "sometimes want to hurt people. They've looked too long at the parts of people that cause pain, and they turn into that. But sometimes they just don't know what they're doing."
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She added the second part very fast.
"What's the difference?"
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Ariadne had made more than a few herself.
So instead, she tilted her head slightly and asked, "How did you learn?"
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But it was true.
"That's wonderful," she said, meaning it completely.