tl;cr meme

[marriagebroker]

post your character, people reply, give them the deets. you know how this goes.

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[poans]

Poor Rom was ignored on their first meeting, but that was because, in that moment, there was little more attractive in Yi Sang's line of sight than Serpilia and her wings.

They reminded him of Sang Yi's wings. To Yi Sang, flying has always been a dear dream born out of his desire to escape the City's cruel ways. And because he'd seen the means on his ideal self, witnessing them in person through Serpilia after having just left behind the last vestiges of familiarity on a despairing walk to chase after a sliver of hope that might not even exist was all too moving, no matter how misguided his sentiment—except she added that she couldn't fly with them, and he was crushed.

However, Sang Yi had also told him days before his departure about how chickens still flapped their wings to live on. Yi Sang thought back to this frequently, and he believes that chickens, too, can realize the ability to fly through their struggles, so in a way he could still hope that Serpilia's flightless state didn't mean that she'd been stripped of what she should get to have. After all, his own wings had shattered (as depicted by the glass shards scattered on the floor behind him in his E.G.O art).

In any case, her turning around to show him her wings unobstructed was truly a great kindness, because he had once asked Sang Yi to turn away whenever he would as reflections do. As such, he never had the opportunity to look at the latter's wings in the same way.

While he assured her that he didn't have ulterior motives in the way of charming her, he thought she had quite the bright disposition and an equally sharp mind if she was hacking school systems for fun. She also seemed more savvy socially, putting out a potential explanation for Yingying's questionable age as being a joke. Yi Sang's mind was much blander in comparison, to say nothing of his taxidermied state, which she then pointed out. This was something he was freshly trying to leave behind, but, as he felt very much dead inside still, he actually felt that he'd overspoken earlier out of sentimentality and tried to take a step back . . . only, ironically, to be asked for his thoughts thereafter.

That was hard! It was difficult due in equal parts to his depressive apathy and personal challenges with expressing himself. He'd joined the game, half-expecting to be gruesomely murdered some way or another, and was too deep in his head to focus much on anyone else. Too, he doesn't look at people in terms of who's cute or not, so he conceded instead by telling her whose profiles he found to stand out for various reasons: Odile for research, Poppy for engineering, and Ringo for artificial intelligence. Outside of the profiles, Serpilia, of course, had left a striking impression.

When I refer to your appearance, I allude to the whole image as reflected in my eyes. This was in reference to Maya, who'd encouraged him to look people in the eye to see what reflection of himself he might glimpse there. He was skeptical, but after what he just said to Serpilia, he was quietly struck by the thought, even if he was avoiding making eye contact with her. This notion suddenly contrasted against her teasing about the charming nature of his words, which was a mild point of frustration due to what he perceived as an inability to properly convey himself. He felt some contrition at her reply and sincerely apologized for brewing the misunderstanding in the first place. As for his answer, I am whom I match in the mirror was a reference to how he'd left Sang Yi, his reflection in the mirror, and was now alone, matching his isolated reflection in the mirror, cut off from the other side with nothing more than shards to himself.

All in all, he was deeply self-absorbed in their first encounter to where he failed to engage her in reciprocal conversation, despite his numerous impressions of her character.

As we know, he came out of the first pre-ceremony discussion with respect for Serpilia and her boundaries. In another reality, she was definitely among his top five candidates.

The date next week saw Yi Sang's nerdier side surface. In canon, no amount of depression stops him from butting into Sinclair and Don Quixote's chess games, simply because he can't stand how poorly the latter plays and compulsively advises her. Unburdened by sentimentality, intellectual matters are easier to pursue with a clear mind; hence, he was much more straightforward in this encounter and went about things for her convenience, like starting on her side of the room and opting for higher inspections as opposed to examining objects at a lower height where her reach would be easier. He had no idea what Serpilia's intentions for bringing him here were, yet this was probably his most comfortable date among the first batch. After becoming discouraged by the aftermath of the first ceremony, in which he'd been overcome by a sense of futility, he was utterly miserable and entertaining intrusive, suicidal thoughts. He was shuffling along out of deference to Wei Wuxian and his fellow players, but, because Serpilia generally didn't feed into his depressive fits, there was a touch of normalcy that let his heart rest for a bit while they played games. Their meetings were always on the more down-to-earth or intellectual side, and, as she treated him like any other person, he appreciated this about her more and more as time passed.

They escaped! And Yi Sang won one (1) Ahn from the City. Everyone starts somewhere.

When the apparitions visited, Yi Sang was somewhat displeased despite appearances to see Sang Yi, who should be free, playing out an endless routine whether he was real or not. This wasn't a feeling he wanted to associate with his free, beautiful self. Speaking with Serpilia, he agreed that their story might've been something out of a fairytale, because he still wasn't sure if he'd truly been flying or just been stupid during his happiest days with the League, when he'd felt freer than ever. Perhaps it was a fairytale—a tale poised to tell a lesson on pretending at having wings as a half-wit. Then the notif demons jumped me, and I never got to tag back . . . but Yi Sang probably would've answered her question about regrets to the tune of how he was apathetic, for nothing lasts.

During the next pre-ceremony discussion, he didn't argue with Serpilia about dropping his name for a few reasons: He didn't care enough (nothing against her and everything to do with him), and he wasn't confident in his still growing understanding of the algorithm to say one way or another. Yi Sang tends to keep his thoughts to himself until he's had time to percolate them and to believe that he's not taking a total shot in the dark. All he knew here was that Serpilia was being mindful in how she explained herself to Yingying, and he tried to reciprocate by waiting until she was fully settled after her talks with Edamura and Rom before piping up with his acceptance.

When she brought up the previous week's discussion, he thought it didn't matter—not because he was indifferent, but because he knew that he had a history of being difficult. He'd driven even Gubo up the wall with his detachment. Though the reasons for his behavior then and recently were different, he was of the opinion that Serpilia was simply an upfront individual who cared about people and expressed herself with confidence, and those were qualities he admired that he never held anything against her.

Next was their shared date with Poppy, which was a time. Here, he learned some more about Serpilia and a bit about the world from which she hailed. He wondered if she worked with artificial intelligence like Ringo, because it was such a surreal notion that stressed the differences between their places of origin. In response to Poppy, he answered that it was truly devilish to imbue robots with the ability to feel pain for mere entertainment; however, as this was directed with ambiguity due to his reluctance toward eye contact, it reasonably brought into question to whom the words were directed. 😔 Apologies, Serpilia. The thing was, he actually rather liked how she talked about her robots back home.

At last, the hot springs saw change! By this point, Yi Sang was much more proactive. He had just reached an epiphany and was eager to test the waters, so to speak, by trying his hand at socialization and openness, and was reading up on the cards to that end. When Serpilia approached him and suggested that he should be close enough to engage with everyone, he decided that this was a very wonderful idea! And immediately took off to her chagrin. Then he was sweating inside, because he must protect Verso's secret, and was mortified upon being reminded of his own when Serpilia suddenly grabbed him to get an intimately close look at his hair. These were confusing, though not unwelcome, times. In a way, it was warming how Serpilia took so easily to his hobbling and helped him draw closer to everyone else.

Regarding the fateful night where everyone's painful secrets were unleashed to the public, he agreed with Serpilia at once about how it wasn't right to make a show out of their pain. She brought up the fair point that some players were going to have to explain some things, though, and this gave him a much needed moment to consider how she was doing after all this time. She was always so self-assured, but she was also possessed of a beating heart. He wanted to be sure that she was okay, too, and so asked after her in case she had a weight she'd like to unload, marking the first instance of his openly reaching out to her after many little gestures.

Finally, because he was quite enamored with his fellows and enjoying life to the fullest he could possibly make it, he was eager to try a game with Serpilia at the closing party. He honestly believed that everyone fell under the category of hot, as attraction stems from the connections he's bridged for him. Everyone was warm in their own ways, and Serpilia, as he explained, was a blue flame. She could burn hot if approached thoughtlessly, but she was still comforting, pleasant to behold, and not one to expend herself needlessly while carrying consideration for those around her. It was a deeply sentimental metaphor on his end.

Yi Sang respects Serpilia great deal and wishes her all the best. He wouldn't mind discussing robotics with her someday, and he's happy that she sparked with other people.