[VIDEO]

[demonicbeauty]

[It's Ariadne posting, so no matter how carefully she's planned her speech, the first few moments of the feed are nothing but her fumbling with her bracelet, trying to properly get herself into the frame.

But there's something very new this time.

It's Ariadne.

Her face is the same as always, except for the fact that it's green. Green as the underside of a maple leaf. And her hair is candy-floss blue. So that's...not normal. And while some of you have seen this look on her, the vast majority have not. She's been careful. Maybe even paranoid.

And from the grimace on her face, she looks very, very guilty.]

So. I've been lying. For a very long time. I don't feel bad about it. Not exactly. But I never felt good about it either.

This...this is me. What I actually am. I'm Alastrian. We're harmless, really. And I would never hurt anyone. Even if I look...well...a little different. And I won't. I mean, it's just easier to look Human. But I wanted to tell the truth. Because I feel like I've been stealing someone's face. Because it looks like we're all going to be here a long time. And because...well. I guess I just wondered what it would be like to live a more honest life.

[She pauses, clearly a little overwhelmed by all of this.]

I'm sorry I lied.

Comments

Video

[beefaroni]

[Oh, strawberry woman.]

... Is that all, you lied about?

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne smiles slightly, glancing down at her hands, before she looks back up.]

More or less.

It's probably big enough to count for at least eight lies, though.

video;

[tealeafs]

[ Chizuru doesn't recognize the woman - hasn't spoken to her before. And while yes, the green skin is odd.. At the same time she can't ignore this message since it's so close to something she could've said. The circumstances sound so similar to her own to the point where it feels like her heart skips a few beats. ]

I.. I don't think you have to apologize for that to people if you didn't mean to hurt anyone..

[demonicbeauty]

I never want to hurt anyone...

[She sighs.]

But some people see a lie--or a lie of omission--as harmful, I guess.

[ Video ]

[dataset]

"Alastrian"?

[ Connor looks stunned. This is going to take him some time to wrap his head around. At this point, he hasn't met anyone who hasn't been able to be quantified as human or android. ]

You're not...human?

[demonicbeauty]

[She feels especially bad about lying to Connor. Particularly since her conversation with him inspired her decision to come clean. So, yes, she winces a little bit.]

No. I'm not.

I always wanted to be, though.

Video

[brother_cadfael]

And here I was under the impression you had a true disfigurement or a short of disease.

[His manner's pleasant, showing no hard feelings.] Do you feel better, now than it's out.

[demonicbeauty]

[Oh, she's been dreading this one. After all, she's lied to Cadfael more than most.

Still. It's a relief that he's taking the whole thing in a decidedly Cadfael-like way.]

It...wasn't meant to be for my benefit.

video;

[iustise]

[Well. This is a surprise. She certainly had not been green the last time they had met face-to-face. Nor had they spoken of Alastrians at all that he can remember, in all the letters that they had exchanged. And it is not as though they had not discussed the other races of her world, for that matter.]

My dear...

[John is momentarily speechless.]

There is no need to apologize. Though I am sorry that you felt you had to lie to us in the first.

[demonicbeauty]

[That silence has her spinning. So much so that it takes her a second to register what he says after.

She blinks in surprise.]

You're not upset?

video;

[sanityinruins]

Is that all?

[demonicbeauty]

[She blinks a little bit.]

Did you need more, sir?

[ Video ]

[momsboy]

Ey, beautiful.

[ It's said in a friendly way rather than trying to flirt. Ariadne knows that there's already another green lady in Peter's life. ]

I'm proud of you. How are people reacting? Do I need to punch someone?

[demonicbeauty]

[She smiles slightly, pleased by Peter's compliments. It was rare that she had anyone proud of her. Or at least, that she had anyone admit it.]

Peter, I would never ask you to punch anyone.

[Video]

[theprezident]

Does 'Alastrian' mean you're from ... Alastria?

[ A pause. ]

Oh, and hi. I'm Rhys. I don't think we've ever spoken. You don't need to tell me anything, I just find this stuff interesting.

[demonicbeauty]

[It's surprising to be greeted by strangers. More surprising still when they aren't screaming for her head. But Ariadne could get used to it.

She smiles politely.]

There's no such place as Alastria, although there may have once been, thousands of years ago.

I'm from a kingdom called Valeria, actually.

[vagabone]

Oh! Okay.

['Okay' pretty much sums his thoughts on it up, honestly. She's not even the only green skinned lady around, who cares? That, and a walking skeleton has no room to talk about what others look like!]

Nothing to be sorry about, it's not a big deal. Letting people assume whatever they want isn't exactly the same as lying, you know?

[demonicbeauty]

[She smiles slightly.]

I know. But it can sometimes feel the same.

Especially when you start to care about people, you know?

video.

[amongfriends]

Has there been any trouble so far? [She's asking for a friend....... she's the friend. Spoilers.]

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne grins, looking entirely too pleased.]

Surprisingly, no. Not so far.

Mostly Peter using figures of speech I don't understand. But that's every day.

video; sorry this is so late

[captainmaterial]

[Well, Finn can say that he didn't expect this sort of news on the network. But honestly, it's not the worst sort of thing.]

Stealing someone's face? [He...kind of sees how she resembles Padmé.] Which do you feel more comfortable wearing?

[demonicbeauty]

[She smiles grimly.]

If I'm being totally honest...

[Wow, honesty is kind of hard.]

...I prefer looking Human.

Video

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar doesn't look surprised at all, but then, he'd first met her under the most peculiar circumstances when he'd been turned into an swan, which he'd never bothered to tell her about either. So they'd both been liars of a sort.]

I've known for a while. But I've seen enough to know you're the same no matter what color you happen to be.

[demonicbeauty]

[Wait, what? It's not inconceivable that someone would know. Especially when it's so hard to hold her form. But this is somewhat startling information. That someone would know and not...mention it?]

...how did you know?

video; un: majortom (let's pretend I'm not 84 years late)

[winscenario]

[ Jim flashes a smile at the camera, wide and confident, his eyebrows raising. ]

So? How's the reveal been so far?

(I see nothing)

[demonicbeauty]

It seems...

[She genuinely looks like she's at a bit of a loss for words.]

Calmer. Than I expected.