melodiesofkupo | 02 ♫ Text

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02 ♫ Text - United We Stand

[Finally finished with her moping, Selphie decides that in light of their invitation to the new empire, she wants to have a discussion with the entire group. She's hesitant about posting to the linkshell but this is definitely something she's put a great deal of thought into and hopes that her idea is one that everyone get can behind.]

Hey Everyone,

I've been thinking about these invitations that we've all received to go to Sen Devadatta for their upcoming festival.

It's really weird how all of a sudden they decided to open up their borders and let outsiders in and well, I don't really like this idea. Something seriously stinks about this whole thing, but we still need to go. There's still a lot about this world that we don't know and maybe meeting with this Empire might shed some light on the mysteries that we've all encountered.

With that in mind though, I think that we should pick some representatives from the group to speak on everyone's behalf. It would be beneficial to not only put an organized front together when we meet the Empress but to also show that we're capable of fully cooperating with each other. Not everyone is going to get along with the other and that's okay as long as we all share the same common goal.

We'll probably also need some people to take down information so that we can share it with those who decide not to come.

So let me know what you all think!

- Selphie

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There's royalty and diplomats in our group, any of us you can find are probably smart picks.
It's also maybe a good idea to get someone from the Curti Center who knows how to talk to people instead of insulting them, too.
Also people who are better at listening than you.
But if the Empire doesn't want to like us, they won't.

Do you really want to just push aside everyone else's opinions for whoever gets picked?
What if the people who aren't picked decide to speak up anyway?
Or the people who get picked make things worse?
Are you gonna STOP them somehow?

[ Sorry Selphie. He might've forgiven you for insulting the bejeezus out of him, but you didn't exactly endear yourself to him as someone who's head stays on straight in a pinch. ]

[This is where Selphie starts to tread very carefully. It topics like the ones that Hunk has brought up that she wants to discuss with everyone. She doesn't want to screw things up.

She may not be the best at listening but she's still willing to try.]

You're not wrong there, Hunk. I'm not the best for listening but I'd like to try and get better at it. It's part of the reason why I put this up here. I'm hoping to discuss this with everybody because I know that my ideas aren't the best. I want to start somewhere so that some sort of happy medium can be reached.

I'm definitely not the one to speak for the group, I admit to that.

[She stops for a few moments to answer his questions.]

What if people's opinions are similar though? I know that's not likely but it is a possibility. I hope that we don't push people's opinions aside though.
We could decide as a group what the key points are and then open the floor to others afterwards if they want to say something that wasn't mentioned.
Hopefully... it doesn't escalate to that level but everyone would get to decide.
Even if I wanted to, I'm one person with one voice that doesn't get heard all the time.

But I still have to try.

[She's not even sure if this isn't going to escalate into another disagreement but she wants to move forward more than anything.]

Edited 2018-08-04 01:05 (UTC)

It's not a bad idea, but it's pretty hard to plan when we know almost nothing.

And I'm sure they're gonna hit us with a few surprises when we're on their turf that we know nothing about. Not necessarily bad surprises, but I'm a little nervous. Just saying.

Though putting forth a united front would be to our benefit, the Empire is too unknown to limit ourselves to like-minded representatives capable of speaking for the people as a whole. If we are to emerge with as wide a perspective as possible, then we need to approach this from multiple angles.

Moreover, diplomatic meetings tend to be more productive when participants are free to speak their minds without concern of standing in opposition to a pre-existing, collective stance. Favouring a more open discourse will also discourage attempts at prematurely predicting rather than analysing the Empire's responses to any topics we may broach.

[ At least she's trying this time? Baby steps. ]

If you try to nominate someone to speak on behalf of any group of people, then some opinions are going to get ignored or outvoted.
And there's nothing stopping someone from going off on their own to do what they think is best.
If you can't get people to agree on what to put on a pizza, how are you gonna get a group of seventy people to agree on what to ask an Empress?

And let's not forget that the last time outworlders happened, there were terror attacks in Sen Riqeaux.
They're gonna be on guard and they're definitely not gonna trust us.
How would you react if your country had its yearly holiday, world leaders showed up, and then a bunch of weirdos came with them, just like when the Empire closed its doors?
Can you imagine how many alarm bells would go off if we all went off to some room together to secretly discuss plans?
They might even be monitoring our Mognet connections once we're there.

I trust this even less than you do, but it's a holiday. With world leaders.
Maybe we should treat it like one, even if we think it's gonna get dicey?

I'd rather not volunteer myself, since so many of you are human. Best to have mostly humans speaking for us. That and that is way too much authority that I want resting on my fins. I've done things like that before, but... ugh, only when the Powers that Be were desperate.

But I'm certainly going and would like to coordinate information. I can do some organization, if I can get someone to write for me. I need to set this thing up to take dictation, or read my fin movements or something so I don't need to rely on Ace.

And buy common goal, you mean going home?

That's true too. I probably should have started with bringing up topics for discussion.

[She really doesn't want to start another argument with people over mognet.]

And they did invite us to their big holiday event as well, which I'm looking forward to but we need to be careful and make a good impression.

That would be one of the common goals. Someone would need to bring that up when we meet with their representatives.

I didn't plan on speaking myself because there's others who are better suited for this. I'm more of a in the moment kinda gal so it'd be better to not have someone blurting out random things in the middle of an important meeting.

I can help with the note taking! Information gathering was a bit of a specialty for me back on my world so if I can help in any way, I'd like to do that.

I see your points!

Taking a united front would be a better option down the road then if everyone is open to it. That would be up to everyone to decide. But yes, considering that we don't know anything about the Empire, maybe having a wide array of topics to discuss would be better in the long run.

I'll be sure to take notes and collaborate with others who may be doing the same.

No blitzball antics. Got it.

But yeah, it wouldn't hurt if we worked out what we thought about a few topics that might come up.

Maybe ask if you could join in on a practice with the local teams? They might be down for that. Or at least letting you watch. I know your team doesn't have issue with that.

That would definitely be a good place to start. I know that some people definitely want to know if there's a way to get home. Anything else is fair game though.

Call me cynical, but I don't think this Empress, who is going out of her way to have an audience with is, will be so enamored to hear that we want to leave, first thing.

It's possible but I'd like to be optimistic and hope that they'd would work with us on that issue. A little you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?

It's not gonna be that easy. It never is.

Like I told that other kid, if we're not going to be used for political posturing, we're going to be arrested. Or both.

Wishful thinking on my part?

I dunno about you, but I'd rather not go back to jail.

[DON'T ASK.]

I've been through worse.

Me too, but it's still something I'd rather not repeat.

If you're not prepared to handle things like this, then you need to stay out of other people's way. -Blunt.-

In the meantime, consider opening discourse with the native Vaikunthans. We know precious little about them as well, including who among them would stand with us unconditionally against the empire should the worst case scenario be realised.

I've helped handle far worse than meeting with an Empire that we know nothing about. I'm going to be there because I have just as much of a right as anyone else to know what the heck is going on.

[Just because she'd rather not go back to jail and potentially get places bombed doesn't mean that she's not prepared to play nice in the sandbox.]

I'm still getting acquainted with the locals but I'll see what I can find out. From what I've heard from some of the people that I work with, they don't really know a lot about the Empire so I don't know if they'd be willing to stand with us right now.

That doesn't mean that they won't in the future though.

I don't expect that they would stand beside us before the Empress, but neither can we anticipate their support should the Empire take action against us. Moral righteousness is unreliable in the face of a significant threat, and it would do us well to establish who among them -- or at least who among those affiliated with the Curti Center -- can be considered trustworthy regardless of circumstances. If any of them can be considered such.

... I suppose I can't argue with that.

Just don't let your guard down, kid.

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02 ♫ Text - United We Stand

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