paradoxlol: (;misc: dreaming)
Arthur ([personal profile] paradoxlol) wrote2011-04-28 10:11 am

Goodbye, Sanity~

Have you known such a savoury grief as I?
Do people say "Strange fellow!," whom you meet?
— My amorous soul, when I was due to die,
Felt longing mixed with horror; pain seemed sweet.
 
Anguish and ardent hope (no factious whim)
Were mixed: and as the sands of life ran low
My torture grew delicious yet more grim,
And of this dear old world would not let go.
|

[There's a long pause in the text, then he switches to voice.]
 
It's Baudelaire.  I can't remember the rest.  I just wanted to share, because... because I woke up, and it was like when you get a song stuck in your head.  An idea that replays over and over again, and you try to get it out, but you can't. [He lets out a soft snort at the thought.  NOT THAT ANYBODY WOULD KNOW, but Arthur's tone sounds more like his normal, pre-Invasion self.]
 
The thing about an idea is... If it isn't yours, you can always trace it back to its genesis.  Your mind-- your mind is-- it's this incredible tool; it retains so much more than you can even comprehend.  Some speculate that you never really forget anything-- you may not recall something, but it's still there, locked inside your head.  You can't, you can't make a person believe in a lie forever, not if you don't go deep enough. [He laughs hollowly]  Any memory can be retrieved. 
 
Anything...
 
[Murmuring:] It's on the tip of my tongue.
 
[He lets out a soft sigh and begins to recite, his voice going flat:]
 
J'étais comme l'enfant avide du spectacle,
Haïssant le rideau comme on hait un obstacle...
Enfin la vérité froide se révéla:

J'étais mort sans surprise, et la terrible aurore
M'enveloppait. — Eh quoi! n'est-ce donc que cela?
La toile était levée et j'attendais encore.

 
That's it.  That's what I was forgetting.
 
[OOC: CUE ARTHUR GOING CRAZY.  Or beginning to.  He knows something's wrong; he knows that he should be able to check that this is reality, but the whole concept of a totem is basically gone, so he's left in a daze.  IF I'M FEELING INTELLIGENT ENOUGH, his comments will become more and more surreal, but if I'm not, he'll just be in a weird malaise.  By tonight/tomorrow, he'll start trying to "kick" his canonmates and himself.  With a gun.  The poem is "The Dream of a Curious Man", and I'm using the second translation here.  OH AND: Arthur's on the deck right now, staring down at the "sea" of stars, so that's where you can find him.]
cauchemal: (oh fuck)

Private

[personal profile] cauchemal 2011-04-28 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Arthur? Are you feeling well?
cauchemal: (hard choices)

Private

[personal profile] cauchemal 2011-04-28 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oblivious, pleasant, maternal Mal is oblivious to the implications of that pause.]

Arthur. One doesn't "just" get things like Baudelaire stuck in one's head.

What's the matter?
batmanschmatman: (What?)

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Everything okay, buddy? [Which is sort of being asked in a "Are you high?" :| tone.]
batmanschmatman: (Listening & none too pleased about it.)

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
No, you just seem a little out of it.
cauchemal: (Default)

Private

[personal profile] cauchemal 2011-04-28 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's an epic amount of "I don't believe you; talk to me" in just one word:]

Arthur.
batmanschmatman: (Smirk.)

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Still recovering from the pool party?
hatestriangles: (let's see you talk your way outta it)

Private; well, this is slightly weird. Where has party Arthur gone? :|

[personal profile] hatestriangles 2011-04-28 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
French poetry, huh?
batmanschmatman: (Shrug.)

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe. And you're the only one reciting French poetry, if that's what you mean. [SO OBLIVIOUS. Dick doesn't know how truly fucknuts crazy people get when they can't tell reality from a dream.]
hatestriangles: (wellll)

Private; oh party Arthur, you so wild.

[personal profile] hatestriangles 2011-04-28 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah? Jeez. I could never even get my head around that stuff in English, man.

So what's it mean?
batmanschmatman: (I liked being a cop dammit.)

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I mean, it was two days ago.

[Private]

Are you missing anything? Names, faces?
cauchemal: (Default)

Re: Private

[personal profile] cauchemal 2011-04-28 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[Damn it, Arthur.]

...all right. But, please. Come talk to me later, won't you? I'm worried.
hatestriangles: (eyebrows have risen)

Private;

[personal profile] hatestriangles 2011-04-28 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lol, sorry for this, then.]

What about it?
cauchemal: (hand to mouth)

Re: Private

[personal profile] cauchemal 2011-04-28 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Gently; she's trying to match his mood in hopes that it will calm him.]

Il n'y a pas de rideau, Arthur. I'll be in my room later, all right?
batmanschmatman: (Stare.)

Private

[personal profile] batmanschmatman 2011-04-28 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah? [Elaborate plz. :|]

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